


these are the times we will hold

by the1man1eating1cat



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Demigods, Heroes, Magic, Swearing, and i dunno if the lapslock is weird but its too late to go back so, hes like the big character tm but all the dreamies are important, renjun is kinda edgy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2019-09-25 00:30:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17111018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the1man1eating1cat/pseuds/the1man1eating1cat
Summary: renjun had fucking told hades he wouldn't make a very good hero.a dreamies demigod au





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: i literally started working on this story like three days before dream dropped we go up so,, yeah  
> i know mark has already done his last show with the dreamies but i haven't given up on praying that sm will make nct dream a permanent unit ;;; but regardless, the seven dreamies as they are now will always be the boys who hold my heart in its entirety. it wasn't really going to be originally, but we may as well call this story my shout out to nct dream.  
> also, this is my first nct fic to ever be posted, so that's cool  
> on a sort of personal level regarding my life,, i broke my wrist last week and just went through surgery yesterday (after my last finals too) so i'm typing w one hand right now and in a lot of pain, but i had plans to post this on my first official day of break, and i also want to get it posted before new years, so here we are. hope you enjoy lol  
>  
> 
> story title from times like these by eden
> 
>  
> 
> [tumblr](https://lucandescent.tumblr.com/)

renjun thinks there’s a lot of downsides to being a demigod. 

like, for one, being a demigod. it sucks. 

the other is having a godly parent. see, what no one ever realizes about the gods is this: nine times out of ten, they’re absolutely useless. people hear the word god and they’re like, oh, wow, what a cool, huge, important being. but no, gods can’t do jackshit. that’s why there are demigods -- so that gods can shove their responsibilities onto their kids and continue messing things up incredibly. 

it’s not like renjun’s dad  _ wants  _ to be a complete and total mess. some of the gods honestly actually do, so renjun supposes he might be lucky there. 

the problem is that hades  _ is  _ a complete and total mess, and nothing he does can change that. 

like, when he wanted to court a girl, and accidentally fucking kidnapped her. thank god persephone is a strong bitch. 

there’s another problem though. hades, mr. madly-in-love-with-his-wife, is an idiot who can literally get tricked by a human into sleeping with them. and then have a kid with them. and then get his scary, wonderful wife incredibly pissed. 

so now renjun exists, persephone hates him (renjun still isn’t sure how the two of them are related? she’s definitely not his mom, so… step mom?), and hades is still a giant mess. 

plus, renjun’s biological mom is a conniving, pathological liar, but that’s an issue renjun doesn’t want to get into. 

and then comes renjun’s graduation day. he’s finally survived his four hellish years of high school, and freedom’s sweet, strawberry taste is on his lips. he somehow managed to get into one of his top art schools on a scholarship and without too much student debt, and he’s never been more ready for something in his life. he can’t wait to move out of his house and hopefully never see his mother again. 

if there’s one thing renjun’s sad about, it’s that he has to leave his friend chenle behind. chenle is a year younger than renjun, but they only met that year when chenle moved into his school. both of them are chinese, and renjun was able to guide chenle around as someone who knew his first language, and the two of them connected well. renjun’s made a fair amount of friends in high school, but somehow chenle ended up being his closest, and renjun wishes he could be graduating with chenle too. 

still, there’s nothing on this wide earth that could keep renjun from moving on from high school. 

and then there’s an explosion. 

it happens as renjun is walking up to the stage to get his diploma, to get his freedom, and renjun thinks,  _ goddamnit, not today, not now.  _ the person who’s supposed to hand him his diploma pauses and pulls it away as he’s looking around, wondering what’s going on, and renjun nearly rips it out of the other’s hands, but he at least has the tact to know it isn’t the time. 

fire alarms start ringing and people -- keep in mind, there’s some five hundred plus seniors in this room, not to mention the families and teachers -- begin to panic. 

no one knows which way to go or what to do, adults are shouting, trying to get others’ attention. renjun sighs, sneakily grabs his diploma (in the rush, the person holding it dropped it), and rushes to the source of the explosion. 

near the entrance of the school where renjun’s graduation is being held at is a tall, slender man, with hair ruffled this way and that, like he just got out of bed. it’s the darkest black hair renjun has ever seen, and the ends of it move almost like shadows. his pupils don’t seem to end; renjun can’t bring himself to look into them because it’s like staring into a void of darkness. 

“hey!” renjun shouts. the man looks to him, a little dazed and mad like he doesn’t know what he’s doing. “i’m trying to graduate here, asshat!” renjun continues. “can you maybe go exploding some other time? we’re a little busy.” 

the man is still looking at renjun, but renjun’s noticed that his gaze doesn’t quite seem to be fixed right, as if he’s looking both at and through renjun. 

“you listening to me?” renjun calls. 

the man extends his arm and a burst of flames erupts at renjun’s feet, making the death child yelp. 

“oh my god, fine.” renjun sighs. “you’re such a pain in the ass.” he closes his eyes and focuses. 

_ “hey spirits, blah blah blah, fuck this guy up.”  _

wispy figures protrude from the ground like stalagmites, rising up and shifting forms until they become like humans, slightly transparent and rather irritated looking. 

_ “you can’t even, like, do the summoning properly?”  _ one asks.  _ “i mean, we’re here having to do your every demand, and you won’t even call us properly?”  _

“look, buddy, if we could both have our way, you wouldn’t be here at all. but life throws you curveballs, alright?” 

the ghost sighs.  _ “if a child of hades was gonna be born for the first time in centuries, couldn’t they have at least been respectful?”  _

renjun is about to roll his eyes, when another eruption of flames nearly takes his head off. 

“okay, look,” renjun says, “can you just get this guy outta my hair?” 

with some irritated grumbling, the ghosts surge forward. it’s kind of funny watching them; sometimes they come with weapons, or magic, or renjun can summon a smaller amount but give them a physical form. but when they’re like this, a huge swarm of translucent ghosts, they just pile on top of the person they’re after, basically smothering them under a blanket of ghosts. 

the shadowy fire guy gets swept out the door, and renjun sighs. “what a pain in the ass,” he mutters, before running back to join everyone outside where they were supposed to go like he had never left. 

when renjun gets a dream call that night from hades, he isn’t even surprised. 

“hey, son,” hades says, in his usual deep voice, but renjun knows by now that it doesn’t suit his personality. 

“hey, dad,” renjun says. “care to tell me what was up with that weird dude earlier?” 

“right, uh…” hades begins awkwardly, and renjun sighs deeply. “i haven’t even started explaining!” hades argues defensively. 

“i bet it’s something stupid anyway.” renjun says. “tell me i’m not getting dragged up in some annoying god shit. i already got my graduation postponed, for god’s sake.” 

“hey, watch your language!” hades says. “and, uh, about that other thing.” 

“for fuck’s sake.” 

“what did i just say about language?” hades asks. 

“i really could not care less.” 

hades sighs. “why is my son so snarky and disrespectful?” 

renjun just gives him a raised eyebrow look, and hades shifts awkwardly in his throne. he clears his throat. 

“right. so, uh, as i was saying. i sort of need your help.” 

renjun rolls his eyes. “of course you do. if this lasts longer than my summer, i swear to god i will overthrow olympus.” 

“i’m sure it won’t be too much trouble,” hades says, and renjun doesn’t believe it for a second. “it’s just that some of the most dangerous beings on earth that we had trapped in tartarus sort of got loose and we need them to be rounded up.” 

“how.” renjun says. “the hell. do you accidentally let loose some of the  _ most dangerous beings on earth?”  _

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“well.” hades replies. “it’s sort of a long story --” 

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“you know what,” renjun decides, “i don’t even wanna know. just tell me what you need me to do.” 

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“well, since you’re the strongest demigod in existence at the moment,” 

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“unfortunately,” renjun mutters. 

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“we need you to find and capture them. we have some specially made cages by hephaestus; if you can just capture them and bring them to the cages, we’ll be good.” 

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“what do you mean, ‘bring them to the cages?” renjun asks. 

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“the cages are sort of huge mountains miles from where you live.” hades explains. “but i’m sure you’ll figure out how to get them there.” 

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renjun suppresses a loud scream. “i swear to god, dad.” he says. “more shit like this, and olympus: gone. your throne: crushed.” 

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hades just gives renjun a sympathetic smile. 

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there are three dangerous beings, apparently. 

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the first is the one renjun encountered that day. he’s the child of erebus and a demigod child of hephaestus. he had originally been a fairly stable being, but he ended up going insane and having to be locked up. his name is johnny (“who names a destructive shadow-fire man  _ johnny?”).  _

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the second being is a demigod child of zeus, and he had been so skilled and powerful that the gods had actually made him a god himself after death. however, the newly made god turned out to be a trickster with a twisted mind, and he apparently began attacking gods and using his influence to try and bring down olympus. his birth name is chittaphon, but he’s taken the name ‘ten’, for whatever reason. 

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and the third being is the one and only child of a lamia in existence, after a lamia somehow fell in love with a man and gave birth to the poor twisted being, only to later presumably die from unknown causes. the child tried to live the life of a human, but couldn’t do it. he tried to live the life of a demon, but couldn’t do that either. he was too twisted between options, and his mind got warped and confused. he found himself blacking out, attacking and eating people, and then waking up human again and confused, to the point where he wasn’t sure which was the real him. his name is nakamoto yuta. 

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to renjun, none of the beings really sound like cruel, horrific people (except for maybe ten, but renjun can understand being annoyed by the gods, especially with zeus as his father). it sounds more like they are sorrowful beings whose very existences are unbearable. 

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he isn’t sure he’ll be able to pull this off, and that doesn’t just come from how incredibly strong the three of them were. 

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renjun wakes up with an unbearable headache the next day. he has some texts from chenle and other friends, asking him if he’d been hurt in the explosion. he assures them all that he’s fine and makes himself breakfast. there’s a note on the table that says his mother is out working, which means she could be doing absolutely anything. sometimes she left those notes and then disappeared for days, making renjun wonder if he’d be lucky and she’d never come back. 

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not even the gods really know where any of the three beings have gone, because the gods are seriously incapable, despite being, well, gods. so renjun doesn’t just have to somehow miraculously overpower and capture the beings -- he also has to miraculously  _ find  _ them. 

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renjun lets out a long-suffering sigh. 

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he decides to start his search at the college where his graduation took place. there are cop cars all over, and renjun decides to take his chances just sauntering up to the ‘scene of the crime’. he has no hope, and also no care. 

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“hey, kid,” one says. “what do you think you’re doing?” 

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“hey, officer.” renjun greets. “just a student who got caught up in that huge incident yesterday. i was wondering if you found anything out?” 

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the officer raises his eyebrows. “are you kidding me? i’m not gonna give out information to some random teenager. did you get dared or something?” 

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“nah,” renjun says. “i want to be a journalist,” he says, lying out of his ass. “i thought it might be fun to write a sort of report on this situation.” 

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“well, write this in your report.” the officer says. “there’s nothing ‘fun’ about break-ins or explosions, and cops don’t give out information to reporters at will. you’ll hear about things when you hear about things.” 

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“aw, lovely.” renjun says without thinking, the sarcasm dripping off his tongue. it’s in his blood, he can’t help it. the look the officer’s giving him only sort of makes him regret it. 

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“really?” the officer asks. “what the heck?” 

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“is there a problem over here?” another cop walks over. he has deep red hair, and renjun kind of wonders what sort of cop dyes his hair that color, but it does look really good. the guy looks like a model. 

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“hopefully not,” the first officer says. “this kid seems like he wants to cause trouble though.” 

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“no trouble at all, sir.” renjun says through a stiff smile. “i’m just a curious lil boy.” 

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the first officer rolls his eyes. “will you take care of this, taeyong?” he asks the other, who smiles and nods. with a deep sigh, the first officer walks off, leaving renjun with the hot red-haired officer named taeyong. 

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“heya there,” renjun tries, and taeyong snorts. 

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“you’re an interesting guy,” taeyong says, shepherding renjun away from the scene. “you should maybe try more respect and less sarcasm with a police officer, though.” 

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“i’ll keep that in mind,” renjun says. he likes this guy better than the other. 

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“why are you prying into this event, though?” taeyong asks. 

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“just curious,” renjun replies. 

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“well, you know what they say,” taeyong says. “curiosity killed the cat.” 

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“but satisfaction brought it back,” renjun shoots back, and taeyong smiles. 

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taeyong is about to say something, probably to tell renjun to satisfy his curiosity elsewhere, but then a different voice cuts in. 

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“hey, taeyong!” 

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the literal sun -- wait, hold on. 

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a dark-eyed boy walks towards them, the sun reflecting off his light peach-colored hair to give it a golden glow. he looks like he’s shining, and his smile is the brightest bit of it all. it’s wide, it’s pure, it’s gentle, it’s beautiful, and renjun is fucking gay. 

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“ah, jaemin!” taeyong calls back, face immediately lighting up. renjun’s heart has stopped beating and he can hear his blood moving in his ears and he doesn’t know how to be a human properly anymore. “what are you doing here?” taeyong asks. 

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“just wanted to visit my favorite cousin,” jaemin replies. “plus, my dad asked me to bring you a snack, since you’ve been working so hard,” he adds, lifting a plastic bag that has ‘sunshine bakery’ written on it. jaemin’s eyes glance over at renjun and linger thoughtfully for a moment. that instant is the longest instant in renjun’s life, even though it hardly lasts a second. 

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“you’re an angel, jaemin,” taeyong says, accepting the bag gratefully. 

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_ he really is, _ renjun thinks. 

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“so, what’s going on here?” jaemin asks, looking around, and then at renjun. 

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“ah, there was an intruder situation here yesterday,” taeyong explains. “during a graduation ceremony, actually. this teenager here was a part of it, i believe, so he got a little curious.” 

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renjun nods dumbly. 

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“did anyone get injured?” jaemin asks, worry filling his eyes. 

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“no, everyone was fine.” taeyong says. “it’s actually sort of weird, the culprit blew up a bunch of things, but then he disappeared without --” taeyong suddenly catches himself, and his expression turns sheepish. “i shouldn’t be saying this stuff to the public, though. you’ll hear more about it on the news later anyway.” 

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jaemin nods. “well, if you’d like, i can escort him away,” jaemin says, nodding towards renjun. “i know you’re really busy.” 

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“that would be great,” taeyong says, smiling warmly. “see you later, jaemin.” 

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“yup, see ya,” jaemin says, as taeyong starts to walk away. jaemin turns to renjun, his angelic smile appearing again, and renjun really wishes he would stop with that because renjun has to breathe at some point or he’ll die. “so, what’s your name?” jaemin asks as they begin to walk. 

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for a full instant, renjun forgets. he doesn’t know who he is, or where he is; he just knows this boy is fucking beautiful. 

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“renjun,” finally comes the reply, after he’s waited so long that jaemin has given him a questioning look. 

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jaemin smiles again. “i’m jaemin,” he says. “it’s nice to meet you.” 

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“nice to meet you too,” renjun replies, finally starting to function as a human being again. 

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“that intruder situation is pretty weird, huh?” jaemin says. “were you worried?” 

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“no,” renjun replies without thinking. “i had to find out about it.” 

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something in renjun is aware that he’s speaking completely honestly without even meaning to, and is telling him ‘abort, abort, get your head in the game bolton’, but the rest of him is completely entranced. 

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“you had to?” jaemin echoes, eyes confused. “why?” 

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“because my dad asked me to.” 

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_ renjun, renjun, stop! brakes! turn on the brakes you dumbass! _

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“your dad?” jaemin asks. 

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“yeah.” renjun replies. “he’s hades, the god of the underworld.” 

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the world stops. 

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or rather, jaemin stops, and so renjun stops, and the two of them are staring at each other. 

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and then, in an instant, the spell breaks, and -- 

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“oh shit,” renjun says. “oh shit, oh shit, i did not mean to say that. um, that was a joke, that --” 

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“it’s okay,” jaemin interrupts, eyes sincere and serious. “i know it wasn’t a joke.” 

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“um.” renjun replies intelligently. 

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“i was using my ability, actually.” jaemin says, a little smile making its way on his face. “i felt like something was off, so i wanted to find out.” 

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“your - your ability?” renjun stutters out. he’s so confused. what the hell is going on? who is this guy? 

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“let me start over.” jaemin says. “i’m na jaemin, child of aphrodite.” a sweet smile. “nice to meet you, again.” 

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“oh.” renjun says. “oh shit.” 

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jaemin laughs. he’s not using his ability anymore, so renjun isn’t entranced and desperate to give him every truth on earth, but it’s still choirs singing and bells ringing and heaven. 

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“i didn’t expect giving my cousin some bakery snacks to turn into a god issue, but since i’m here, you might as well clue me in. what’s going on?” jaemin asks. 

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renjun isn’t obligated to tell him anything. he’s not using his power, he won’t force renjun to say a thing. but renjun is damn tired of dealing with gods alone and being the only demigod he knows, and this situation is also impossible. 

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so he tells jaemin everything, including the fact that hades is an incapable, stupid mess. 

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when he’s finished, jaemin lets out a breath and a little, “wow”. 

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“i know.” renjun says. “it’s such a mess.” 

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“are you really the strongest demigod on earth, though?” jaemin asks, curiously. 

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renjun shrugs. “i guess. that’s what they say. i don’t really care, though. i’d rather just be a broke-ass college student trying to be an artist, really. i wanna, like, be a normal human, you know? i’m tired of gods and magic and all this stuff.” 

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jaemin smiles sympathetically. “you’ve had it rough, huh?” he says softly. 

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renjun sort of wants to cry, but he’s strong (read: stubborn) so he just shrugs. “anyway,” he says, “thanks for talking to me. it was nice to let all that out.” 

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he starts walking away, but jaemin grabs his wrist. 

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“hold on, renjun,” he says. 

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renjun glances back at him, confused. 

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“this issue is way too big for you to take care of on your own.” jaemin says. “i’m not really all that strong, but i can help you,” he says. “i want to help you.” 

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renjun stares at him, eyes wide. “seriously?” he asks. “you want to throw yourself into this issue of, like, super dangerous beings and idiotic gods? you’ve at least got a bit of a shot at a kind of nice, comfortable life. why would you throw it all away and put yourself in danger?” 

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“well,” jaemin shrugs, “i’m no good at leaving people alone.” he grins. “especially not when it’s a cute boy like you.” 

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renjun turns bright red at that, and jaemin looks annoyingly proud of himself. 

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“i’ll find out about the situation from some of the cops, okay?” jaemin says. “give me your number; i’ll text it to you.” 

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renjun does, and then jaemin heads back, and renjun goes home. 

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later that day, renjun lays on his bed, staring at a text from jaemin. he thinks about a conversation he had with hades, way back when, but after he’d already become the cynical, sarcastic mess he is now. 

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_ “the children of the big three are always incredibly strong, but everyone is still different. some are better with magic, some are worse. right now, renjun, on the entire earth, the strongest demigod alive is you. i wouldn’t dare wish this on you, for it’s a dangerous path, but there will be many times when things are required of you. you’re going to have to be a hero; someone that people can rely on. someone that saves lives, and puts their own life in danger.”  _

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it was the most mature renjun had seen his father be, but also, in renjun’s eyes, yet another incredibly irresponsible moment. hades just wanted to throw these problems onto renjun. he wanted to force renjun to be a hero, to take care of others. but renjun didn’t want those things; he wanted to be an artist, a college student, a normal boy. 

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renjun remembers what he had told his father in response: 

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_ “i’d be a horrible hero.”  _

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renjun still feels the same way. 

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“if anyone should be a hero,” he mutters to himself, “it should be someone like jaemin.” 

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	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> renjun and jaemin get a little help in their quest -- and a little trouble, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wasn't sure i'd post this chapter because, like, frequent updates is not something i do haha. but it is winter break, and tomorrow is christmas (which i completely forgot??? damn) so christmas spirit or whatever. also then i can try to post a chapter tomorrow that introduces another member that i've enjoyed writing (the first one being renjun ofc), so look forward to that maybe

what jaemin finds out from the police officers is that the intruder (johnny) left no footprints, caused explosions without any bombs, and disappeared without a trace. renjun even asks the ghosts if they know where he went after they swarmed him out of the building, but none of them know a thing either. 

so basically, jaemin and renjun are completely without leads. 

renjun is tired as fuck. 

“maybe if we can find out his motives, we’ll learn something.” jaemin supplies. they’re seated on the floor of renjun’s living room. his mom still isn’t back. 

“i don’t even know if he has any, though.” renjun says. “i mean, he’s like half insane.” 

“well, something’s gotta be guiding him.” jaemin says. “even if he himself doesn’t know.” 

“like what?” renjun asks. 

jaemin purses his lips in thought. “well, erebus is the personification of darkness and shadows, so…” 

he trails off, and renjun gives him a look. “you’ve got nothing.” 

jaemin sighs. “i’ve got nothing.” 

renjun glances at him. “it’s not too late to back out, you know.” 

“no way,” jaemin says. “i’m committed.” 

renjun’s just a little starry-eyed from the determination in jaemin’s eyes when he says that. 

“we’ve gotta figure out some way that we can find him, then.” jaemin says. “like, if there’s some sort of person who can do that.” 

“i’ve never heard of one.” renjun says. “except for maybe, like, shabby fortune tellers or something. but they’re complete shams.” 

he had said it without thinking, mostly as a joke, but something lights up in jaemin’s eyes. 

“jaemin, no,” renjun says. 

“why not?” jaemin asks. “you never know what’ll happen. maybe we’ll find an honest to goodness psychic!” 

renjun rolls his eyes. “it’s as likely as me actually completing this quest.” 

“come on, what’s there to lose?” jaemin asks. 

“considering how these sham psychics work,” renjun replies, “probably, like, fifty dollars.” 

jaemin lets out a laugh at that, and renjun already knows they’re going to end up going along with jaemin’s idea. 

to be fair, they at least do a little bit of research. they look into psychics in the area, and rule out the ones that sound the worst (really, they’re going by instinct; renjun figures the bigger the psychic, the more likely it is they’re a sham). 

what they find is some random college student’s tumblr blog. he lives nearby, apparently, and occasionally does fortunes for people. there are asks in his blog saying things like, “i can’t believe that fortune came true!!” or “oh my gosh mark you’re magical how did you do it”. 

“it’s worth a shot, right?” jaemin says. 

renjun sighs. “at least he doesn’t charge money.” 

so the two end up in renjun’s car, driving fifteen minutes to a small house near a lake. it’s really quite adorable; the garden is flourishing, the grass is perfectly kept, and there’s a little sign on the door that says “lee house”. 

jaemin knocks on the door. there’s a short moment where they hear footsteps coming down the door, and then a skinny boy with messy black hair and a snapback on opens the door. “hey,” he greets, looking a little confused. “can i help you?” 

“hi,” jaemin greets, letting his blinding smile take care of things. “are you mark lee?” 

the boy nods. 

“okay, great.” jaemin says. “we found your tumblr blog, and we were hoping you could help us with something?” 

“uh, well, i can try, maybe. depending on what it is. what are your names?” mark asks. 

“i’m na jaemin,” jaemin tells him. 

“i’m huang renjun,” renjun says. 

“alright, well, come on in.” mark says, ushering them into the house. renjun feels something strange when he enters, and realizes with a flash what it is, now that it’s been used on him before. 

“it’s magic,” renjun says, without thinking. 

mark and jaemin both look at him, confused. 

“oh, sorry.” renjun says. “i mean, on your door. you used magic, right?” 

mark’s eyes widen a little. “uh, yeah.” he says, hesitantly. “i did.” 

“really?” jaemin asks, looking between them. “i couldn’t tell at all.” 

“i noticed cause it’s kinda like when you used your power on me,” renjun explains. “it has a little bit of a feeling, a really faint one.” 

“are you two…” mark looks between them, but doesn’t finish his sentence. 

“we’re demigods,” renjun says. he figures, why not, cause apparently this guy is some sort of real deal, and renjun likes doing whatever he wants. plus, in a situation like this, honesty might just be the best policy. “i’m the child of hades.” 

“i’m the child of aphrodite.” jaemin says. 

“oh,” mark says. “uh, i’m -- i’m the child of hecate.” 

“hecate?” jaemin asks. 

“she’s a little less known,” mark says, gesturing to a dinner table (there’s a vase of pink flowers on it -- cute). the three of them take a seat as mark says, “she’s the goddess of, like, witchcraft and sorcery and stuff like that.” 

“that explains the fortune telling,” jaemin says. 

mark nods. “i can do little things like that -- it’s really just spells, all of it. depending on what it is, it expends a lot of energy. the spell on the door took a bit of effort, but it’s a permanent one. all it does is make sure only trustworthy people can come in here, basically.” he takes a little breath and looks to the two others. “so, what did you need help with?” 

“oh, right,” jaemin says. “so, we’re sort of hunting some dangerous creatures down. they escaped from tartarus, and renjun’s dad asked him to find them.” 

mark’s eyes are wide. “that,” he says, “sounds kind of horrible.” 

renjun scoffs. “it is.” 

“so, you want me to find them?” mark asks. 

renjun and jaemin nod. 

“i’ll need to know their names. their appearances would help too.” mark says. 

renjun tells him what he knows, and mark nods and closes his eyes. it feels as if the air around them is moving; renjun feels his eyes get heavy. he gets that feeling like he’s on a boat, rocking back and forth slowly. 

moments later, or maybe hours later, the feeling disappears, and everything is back to normal. mark opens his eyes. 

without a word, he grabs a piece of paper and a pencil, a bit of a daze in his eyes as he writes something down. 

then the last of the spell disappears, and mark puts the pencil down. 

“found them,” he declares. “or, well, vaguely where they are.” 

the paper gives each being’s name. next to johnny’s and yuta’s names are addresses, but next to ten’s it just says ‘forest’. 

“forest?” renjun reads with raised eyebrows. 

mark sees it and flushes. “sorry,” he says, “sometimes it’s hard to spot them.” 

“it’s still something,” jaemin says. “somewhere to start.” he grabs the paper and stands up, renjun following suit. “thank you so much, mark.” 

the two of them are about to leave the house, but mark stands up too. “um, do you think…” 

renjun and jaemin pause, looking back at mark. 

“i mean, two people going on a hunt like this is kind of crazy,” mark says. “and i got a kind of icky feeling when i did that searching spell. so, do you think maybe… i could go with you? i don’t know how much help i’ll be, but…” 

renjun and jaemin glance at each other. renjun’s look is one that sort of says ‘i don’t really know or care’, and jaemin’s is one that more of says ‘hey, why not?’, so jaemin turns to mark with a smile and says, “we’d love your company.” 

so their little crew of two turns into a little crew of three. mark gives them both small protective charms before they leave his house, and then they get into renjun’s car and start heading towards the first address, where johnny is. 

to break the silence in the car, they start talking about themselves. jaemin just graduated from high school, like renjun. he went to a private school, and he’s going into music and acting in college. mark just completed his first year in college. he’s double majoring in photography and journalism (he likes nature and writing, apparently). and renjun, of course, is going into art. 

“so, what are your parents like?” mark asks. “i mean, like, your god parents.” 

jaemin hums in thought, something not quite happy flashing in his eyes. it disappears a moment later. “aphrodite is… a lot,” he supplies. “whenever i’ve seen her, she’s been like ‘oh my gosh, jaemin, you’re so adorable, let me do your makeup and dye your hair!’” his voice goes high-pitched when he imitates his mom, and mark lets out a laugh. “she’s nice, i guess, but she also wants me to, like, be a heartbreaker, or something.” jaemin continues. “and she likes to talk about her own boyfriends, which gets kind of weird.” 

“yeah, sounds like a handful,” mark says. “what about hades?” he asks renjun. 

jaemin, having already heard a little bit about hades, glances at renjun with something almost like worry.

renjun just shrugs. “he’s just sort of an idiot,” he says. “he makes stupid mistakes and can’t do jack shit and doesn’t really know how to be a father.” 

mark is silent for a moment. “do you…” he asks hesitantly, “hate him?” 

renjun thinks about that for a moment. he’s angry at his dad a lot of the time, but he’s not sure he’d call it hate. 

“i don’t think i hate him,” renjun decides. “but my life would be a lot better if i wasn’t his son.” 

they go silent for a bit too long, so jaemin asks, “what about hecate?” 

“oh,” mark says, a little sheepishly, “i’ve only ever met my mom once.” 

“once?” jaemin asks, surprised. 

“yeah. her attitude was basically like, ‘hey, apparently you’re my kid, i don’t really care’.” 

“oh.” jaemin says. 

“nah, it’s alright.” mark says. “it’s not like she’s, like, mean or anything. she just doesn’t really think about being a mom or anything like that. i think she’s mostly bitter. but, anyway, my adopted parents are really sweet, so i don’t feel like i’ve missed out when it comes to my parents.” 

_ can’t relate there, _ renjun thinks, but he doesn’t say a thing. 

eventually, jaemin and mark change the topic. 

 

it feels like the colors change as they near the address. it’s subtle at first, a light gradient into gray, but it becomes more clear as everything around them seems to turn monochrome. the sky is still blue, the trees and the plants are all the right colors, but something about it seems tainted and dull. the grass is more yellowish and dead, the clouds seem a bit thicker, and renjun thinks he sees hunter markings made on trees. 

the forest around them must be for hunters, he thinks, and he even sees a little warning sign about bear traps. they pass a fence at some point where they aren’t supposed to go through, but no one’s even guarding it. a quick spell by mark, and they’re through. 

the street is narrow and rocky, and the car bumps as renjun drives. he’s suddenly begun feeling very tired, that sudden exhaustion that hits every now and then, and he wishes he could go back home and take a break. he ignores it, though, and keeps on driving. 

finally, the road ends. what they’ve found is a little cabin, lonely and small. one for the hunters, renjun assumes. 

“he’s in there, then.” jaemin says. mark nods hesitantly. 

“you two can stay in the car, if you want.” renjun tells them as he undoes his seatbelt. “you don’t need to push yourselves." 

jaemin just gives renjun a look, and mark shakes his head. “i’m coming,” the latter says, and jaemin nods. 

renjun shrugs an, “alright,” and they get out of the car. 

there’s something foreboding about walking to the entrance of a place you know is dangerous. it gives renjun a heavy feeling in his chest, which he swallows down with irritation. he marches up to the door, puts his hand on the handle, and -- 

“get back!” 

a low voice growls from within; a broken, weak voice. 

“no, it’s okay, it’s me, johnny. it’s me --” 

“get away from me!” 

and the building erupts in flames. 

renjun, mark, and jaemin all get away from it as fast as they can, the front of renjun’s shirt singed from the flames. 

the next instant is like a scene from right out of a movie. the door hinges creak, and the entire thing comes off, clattering uselessly to the ground and getting sucked in by the flames. from within the building, walking through flames calmly and easily, is a maroon-haired boy. he seems surprised when he catches sight of renjun and the other two, but not particularly bothered. 

“sorry,” he says, “but office hours are closed for today. come back tomorrow?” 

renjun just stares at the boy. behind him, jaemin and mark shift uncertainly.  

“who the fuck are you?” renjun asks. 

the boy flicks a strand of hair out of his face with a jerk of his neck. his eyes are impossible to read as they land on renjun’s face. “what about you?” he says, and renjun gets a feeling like he’s being tested. “whose kid are you?” 

for a moment, renjun contemplates an answer. wonders why this boy is asking, wonders what sort of answer this boy wants. 

and then he decides on something easy: he doesn’t care.

“doesn’t matter,” renjun says. 

the boy gives a slow shrug. “doesn’t matter for me either.” 

“i need to see the person inside that building,” renjun says. 

“can’t,” the boy says simply. “i already told you; office hours closed.” 

“consider it overtime,” renjun tells him irritatedly. “i’m sure we’re both working harder than we want to be here.” 

this time, maroon head boy lets out a snort. “unfortunately for you, my snarky friend, there’s no one in there anymore. your man is already gone.” 

renjun rolls his eyes, letting out an annoyed noise. he marches forward and past maroon head boy, but he’s right. there’s no one in the building anymore. 

“you have  _ got  _ to be fucking kidding me.” renjun growls out. 

“tough luck,” the boy tells him. “consider making an appointment next time?” 

in all fairness, that kid had it coming. renjun's tired, it's been a long couple of days, and, sure, renjun can get angry easily, but it’s not as if maroon head  _ had  _ to go around provoking renjun. didn’t he know that any demigod is liable to lose control when they’re pissed off? 

the ground rumbles and ghosts shoot out; semi-translucent, but permeable enough to let their paling hands reach out and grab onto any bit of maroon head they can . there’s grayish death crawling all over him as he gets taken down. the same gray color is in renjun’s eyes. his blood is running through his head, starting to make a heavy drum beat, bang, bang, bang. 

“renjun!” someone shrieks. 

“renjun, stop it!” 

a hand grabs his wrist, and everything suddenly goes clear. 

gray washes back into the ground, and renjun’s vision clears. before his eyes is jaemin, eyes concerned and brow slightly furrowed. behind them, maroon head is on the ground, coughing and holding a hand over his throat. 

“holy shit,” he chokes out. “not  _ quite  _ what i expected.” 

renjun’s eyes linger on jaemin a second, and then they drop down to maroon head boy, and then back to jaemin. finally, renjun steps forward, past both of them. 

“don’t piss me off next time.” renjun tells maroon head boy. “consider  _ this  _ my appointment.” 

and then he opens his car door, gets inside, and slams it shut. 

 

the car is deathly silent on the way back. only the quiet hum of the car and the road keeps any of them sane. jaemin is sitting in the passenger seat, eyes flitting nervously to renjun every now and then. renjun feels calm, strangely so; it’s not the worst he’s done with his powers anyway. but there’s a burning sensation on his wrist, a reminder of someone else’s hand, of a gentle hold. 

no one speaks until they reach mark’s house again. 

“so, uh,” the older boy says, hopping out of the car. “do you want me to do the spell again, or…?” 

renjun shakes his head. “i’m going to take a break today.” he says. mark nods, understandingly. 

the three of them exchange numbers, and mark goes into his house sort of awkwardly. silence returns on the drive to jaemin’s house. only when they arrive, and jaemin has one foot out the door, does jaemin speak. 

“thanks,” is all he says, short and quiet. there’s a moment where his eyes meet renjun, and it doesn’t feel like he’s saying thank you for the car ride. 

renjun just gives a short nod. 

  
  


when renjun gets home, he doesn’t take a break. 

there are a pair of shoes at the door that aren’t his own, but he doesn’t hear any voices. the sun hasn’t quite begun to set yet, and renjun doesn’t want to see his mother. from the start, he wasn’t planning on stopping his search. it was just that, at some point between letting mark join them, and throttling a stranger with ghosts, renjun started to wonder why the other two were there. to fulfill a sense of heroism? out of kindness, out of sympathy? it didn’t matter; the point was, they didn’t need to be there. renjun could do this by himself, the way he did all things. 

the first thing renjun does is grab a bag and throw in his laptop and any things he might need. then he’s back out of the house and driving to the park. he doesn’t want to be at his house when his mom wakes up, or comes out of her room. some little kids, innocent and free, run around and play together. they pay renjun no mind, and he does the same for them, taking a seat on a bench and pulling out his laptop. he types in the address of the building johnny had been in. 

he surveys the answers that come up, imprints it into his mind, and then shuts the laptop closed. 

it’s not a long drive; renjun finds his destination some thirty-forty minutes later. the house is any average house, with white walls and some flowers out front to frame the path to the front door. renjun walks up that path. just as he’s about to ring the doorbell, the door swings open. 

the boy before renjun has pure white hair, which almost makes him look like he’s come straight down from heaven. he’s wearing light blue (it suits him) and a serious expression, which falters in surprise when he sees renjun. 

“uh, do you need something?” he asks. “we’re actually kind of busy.” 

“yeah, sorry, but i was wondering if you knew where my friend went?” renjun asks. “he told me he was going down hunting on the land you own…?” 

the boy’s eyes widen. “oh no,” he says, and renjun feigns a worried expression. 

“did something happen?” renjun asks. “he was supposed to come back an hour ago, but…” 

“oh my gosh, i’m so sorry.” the boy says in a rush, taking the final steps to come out of his house and closing the door. “there’s been a wildfire actually,” he says. “i was about to head over there, um, we’re -- we’re looking for, uh, survivors so…” 

renjun nods quickly with (fake) worry in his eyes. “can i come with?” he asks. 

the boy doesn’t hesitate to say yes. 

so renjun ends up in the passenger seat of this boy’s car. part of renjun wonders how the fire had managed to spread -- it hadn’t been bad enough to cause a wildfire when he and the others had left.

white-hair heaven boy is silent the entire drive, worry clear on his figure as he nervously taps his fingers or his feet. 

renjun feels sort of bad for pretending his friend had gotten caught in a wildfire, but he has more important things to focus on. 

“your friend --” white hair heaven boy blurts out suddenly, and renjun looks towards him. “what’s his name?” 

“oh, uh,” the lie slips out almost without renjun meaning to, “johnny.” 

the other boy swerves a little as his head whips towards renjun, before he catches himself and rights the car. “johnny?” he asks in a shocked tone. “so he’s back?” 

renjun almost asks what white hair heaven boy means, but instead says, “yeah.” 

“we were worried when he suddenly stopped contacting us.” heaven boy says. 

“oh, uh, his -- phone broke,” renjun lies. “and he was traveling, so things got kind of hectic, and he wasn’t able to say anything. i think he wanted to, uh, go talk to you after he went hunting?” 

heaven boy’s mouth is set in a grim line. “yeah,” he breathes out in understanding. “i --” he frowns. “i hope he’s alright,” he whispers. 

renjun nods. “me too,” he says, though it feels off to say about someone he’s supposed to be capturing. 

worse, though, is the feeling of knowing that there are people who care about johnny. 

something about it all feels off, but renjun tells himself all he has to do is finish this quest, and then he’s free. 

when heaven boy and renjun finally pull up to the gate to the forest, renjun can already see the effects of the wildfire. there are fire trucks everywhere, and burned trees too. it looks like the fire’s been put out, but the forest has been destroyed. 

heaven boy practically falls out of the car, and renjun follows him as they run forward, past firefighters and chaos. finally, they reach the cabin that had exploded. all that’s left is ash and some fallen wood -- in hindsight, maybe a wood cabin wasn’t the best idea, renjun thinks. 

but then renjun sees something that makes him groan internally. 

red hair and a cop’s outfit -- it’s taeyong. 

“dad!” heaven boy shouts to a man who stands next to taeyong. 

“jeno,” the man greets heaven boy. he glances towards renjun questioningly. renjun keeps his head slightly turned away; taeyong is focused on something else and hasn’t noticed him. he doubts he can hide the entire time, though. 

“dad, dad, has anyone been found?” jeno asks desperately. 

“it doesn’t seem like it,” the man responds. “the police think, somehow, no one was harmed in the fire.” 

jeno glances towards renjun with worry, and renjun accidentally meets his gaze; it’s a deep, emotional one. renjun gets caught up thinking his eyes are pretty for a moment. 

“is something wrong?” jeno’s dad asks. 

jeno stares at his dad for a moment, and then he chokes out, “johnny was here.” 

his father’s eyes widen. “he was?” he asks. “i thought he was -- missing, i thought --” 

“there were issues, apparently.” jeno says. “must have happened while he was in korea, his phone broke or something, and --” 

_ so he was in korea, _ renjun thinks. that’s convenient for renjun, at the least, though he wonders how johnny could’ve gotten from korea to tartarus. 

“we didn’t find any bodies,” taeyong decides to speak up then, his eyes lifting to the men standing there. “we’ll tell you if we --” 

and then he sees renjun. 

“wait, what?” taeyong asks. “aren’t you that kid from yesterday?” 

renjun keeps his eyes downcast. 

“i’m seeing you at a lot of crime scenes,” taeyong comments. “if you’re on some sort of hero run --” 

“my friend,” renjun interrupts, and he wants to applaud himself for his acting as his lip shakes dangerously. “my friend was supposed to be here. he hasn’t come back, i don’t know where he is.” 

taeyong’s eyes widen and his expression softens. “oh,” he says softly. “i’m sorry. but, we really haven’t seen anyone. if he was here, we should find him.” 

alive or dead, that isn’t said. 

 

in the end, they don’t find anyone -- of course. jeno sits with renjun, who even gets a blanket, and renjun would feel comforted by his presence if he were actually sad. 

taeyong asks renjun and jeno all they know about johnny, but renjun fakes being too sad to response, so jeno takes over. 

“he used to do a lot of hunting around here,” jeno says. “he never actually caught any animals though. not because he was a bad shot, or anything; he just preferred to shoot cans or targets. he liked to stay in that cabin. he,” jeno swallows down a lump of emotion, “he always said that he had everything he could need. but, around two years ago, he went missing. he had gone to visit some family in korea, but he stopped contacting us suddenly. we called the police about it, actually, but they couldn’t do anything since he wasn’t in the same country.” 

“and he’s back now,” taeyong says. 

jeno nods. “he broke his phone apparently, and he could never contact us.” 

taeyong nods. “if you don’t mind me asking,” he says to renjun, “how did you meet johnny?” 

renjun is prepared for this question already, and he says, “we have a mutual friend,” he lies. “he and my friend met a while ago, but i just met him recently.” 

“what’s this friend’s name?” taeyong asks. “maybe he knows where johnny’s gone.” 

the first name that comes to mind is the name renjun says -- because why the hell not. 

“haechan,” he says, and taeyong writes it down. 

“do you know how i can contact him?” taeyong asks. 

“he doesn't have a phone," renjun lies. “and i don’t know where he lives.” 

“okay,” taeyong says. “what about what he looks like?” 

renjun doesn't have to lie this time. “maroon hair,” he says. 

he thinks then, though he ignores it, that maybe it means something. lies which have always been the shadow over his life, are the same things that come out of his own mouth. so maybe it was meant to be; maybe it would always be lies as his demise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [tumblr](https://lucandescent.tumblr.com/)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a different boy on the same quest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> consecutive updates feel weird,,,  
> anyway merry christmas if you celebrate that!! hope your day has been good :)

there are things chenle likes about being a demigod. 

having powers, for one -- that’s super cool. if a sink or a toilet isn’t working, it’s no issue for him. he’s a super good swimmer, he can breathe underwater, and he can talk to horses and water animals (undeniably the best part). 

and it’s nice to feel special, or relied upon, or like he has the power to protect people when he wants to. it’s nice to have this surety that he has strength. 

but there are things that chenle  _ doesn’t  _ like about being a demigod. 

the overwhelming, crushing pressure? definitely one of those things. he holds lives in his hands, and no one even knows. if he fails his quest, who knows what sort of catastrophic effects it’ll have. 

and constantly having his life in danger? yeah, that’s one of them too. 

when it comes to chenle’s dad, he’s more on the fence. chenle likes his dad. he doesn’t often get to see his dad, though, and sometimes poseidon’s a bit grumpy. after all, he’s apparently the only responsible god around (his own words), and everyone keeps needing his help for things. at one moment, it’s aphrodite, asking if her makeup looks good; at another, it’s hades, telling him how he’s screwed something up; at another, it’s zeus, doing something that would be a crime to humans. there’s always something. 

there’s hardly chenle. 

but chenle doesn’t resent his father. it seems like poseidon mostly cares about chenle, even if all the confirmation chenle has of that is that poseidon once told him, “i don’t regret having you.” 

it meant a lot, actually. 

so, yeah. likes, dislikes, and a neutral little thing -- chenle has those, of course. 

right now, as he narrowly dodges the claws of a flying half-lamia, he can firmly say that this situation is in the ‘dislikes’ section. 

“i -- need -- to -- feed,” nakamoto yuta growls, reaching for chenle. even staring into those burning amber eyes that promise pain, even as claws reach for him and sharp teeth bare themselves, a little bit of chenle is telling himself to stop, to give in. it’s telling him he’ll feel better if he lets those hands grab him, touch him. 

but chenle, excuse you, likes his men sweet and  _ not  _ trying to kill him, so he ignores the lamia-effect and hops away on a wave of water. 

“please --” chenle sends out a rush of water that takes yuta down, “calm yourself for a second! i’m trying to capture you, thanks!” 

yuta ignores his plea and stands back up. 

with a frown chenle flourishes one arm in front of himself, causing a series of icicles that he sends out towards yuta. one catches on his sleeve, but he dodges the others, and chenle hurriedly sends himself upwards with a flip and a wave of water. 

“this!” chenle exclaims, out of breath, as he splashes burning water towards yuta and watches the burned skin heal back. “is not! what i signed up for!” 

yuta growls and leaps halfway through the air. chenle shrieks like a dolphin and slides out of the way. 

“gods!” he exclaims. “if you’re out there! i’d like! maybe a pay raise! or a pay! or --” yuta crashes into a box of -- does that say explosives, oh god -- and chenle rolls away fearfully, “not to die today!” he finishes. 

and, dropping in through the open warehouse ceiling, comes a response to his little prayer. 

“you called?” 

sparks of lightning crash into the water that’s spilled all around. and then it swirls into the air, around and around as it gets closer to the already frazzled yuta, until it makes contact with his skin. he lets out a gross sort of shriek, and finally runs away, with a glare behind him at the two boys standing in the warehouse. 

chenle turns to his savior, who shoots him a cute, smug grin. 

“oh my gosh the gods sent me a boy,” chenle gasps in shock, and the tall boy snorts a laugh. 

“i’m jisung,” he says. “i thought it was weird to hear fighting in a dangerous warehouse.” 

“i’m chenle,” says chenle. “thanks for saving my life!” he adds with a grin. 

jisung shrugs. “no problem. you sounded like you were having a rough time.” 

chenle sighs. “i was,” he says. “i feel like i’m supposed to be stronger. i mean, i’m a son of poseidon!” 

“well, have you trained?” jisung asks. 

“trained?” chenle replies, and jisung gapes. 

“yeah?” he asks. “like, you know, how hercules trained with chiron? learning fighting and stuff like that? how to be safe? the extent of your magic, the bad effects it can have…?” jisung trails off as chenle keeps staring at him with confused eyes. “oh my god,” he finally says. “how have you not known about any of this?” 

chenle shrugs in confusion. “i’m from china,” he says. 

jisung chokes on his laughter.

“by the way,” chenle says, turning to look behind them, “are those explosives gonna go off?” 

“the wh--” 

and then the building explodes. 

in a rush, jisung grabs chenle’s wrist and propels the two of them out of there on fluffy white clouds, and chenle is starstruck as they land on the ground outside, even as jisung exclaims, 

“holy shit, what do we do?” 

“it’s alright,” chenle says calmly, rolling off the cloud. 

“alright?” jisung asks, brow furrowing as he glances back to chenle and -- 

sees the brown-haired boy douse the fire with water. 

“ah.” jisung says. “right.” 

“right,” chenle agrees with a nod. 

jisung sighs and crosses his arms as chenle puts out all of the fire, leaving the warehouse disappointingly charred. “i can’t believe you knew there were a bunch of explosives spilled all over the floor, and you just ignored them. i literally came in with a bunch of lightning, you know.” 

chenle lets his water wash into the dirt before turning to jisung with an, “honestly,” that already has jisung sighing. “i sort of forgot the explosives were there.” 

“you.” jisung says. “forgot?” 

chenle nods. “i mean, you dropped in and i was like, wow, thank you gods, and then you totally scared yuta out of there, and i got all caught up in that and only remembered the explosives right before they went off,” he explains, not at all sounding regretful. 

jisung frowns at chenle. “how old are you?” he asks curiously. 

“i’m sixteen,” chenle says. 

“oh,” jisung says, surprised. “you’re the same age as me.” 

“really?” chenle asks. “cool! this is my first time meeting another demigod, actually.” 

“well,” jisung shrugs, “probably not. there are probably more demigods around here than you know.” 

“well, at the least,” chenle says, “you’ve gotta be the first other big three.” 

jisung makes a noise of agreement. “guess so,” he says. 

“so, did zeus teach you a bunch about demigods, then?” chenle asks. 

jisung’s face seems to fall. there’s a glimpse of something in his eyes that chenle can’t catch before it returns to a normal expression and he says, with eyes cast away, “someone else did.” 

“oh,” chenle says, because he doesn’t know what to say. 

“so,” jisung says, changing the subject, “what were you doing in that warehouse with that lamia?” 

“half-lamia,” chenle corrects without really thinking, and jisung’s brow furrows. 

“half-lamia?” he asks. “how is that possible?” 

chenle shrugs. “love?” 

jisung makes a face, but gestures for chenle to continue. 

“i’m on a quest.” chenle says, which makes jisung’s face twist up into something. “some dangerous beings escaped from tartarus, so i have to round them up.” 

jisung’s face has turned into something impossible to read, and he shrugs indifferently. “maybe they’re better off escaped.” 

“huh?” chenle stares at the other boy. 

“i’m just saying.” jisung tells him. “maybe they don’t need to be captured.” 

“but, they were in tartarus for a reason, right?” chenle says. 

jisung studies chenle. chenle isn’t sure why the air has turned so stiff and stale, but he doesn’t like it. 

“well, anyway.” jisung says. “i should go. good luck with your quest, i guess.” 

“wait --” 

but jisung just catches the clouds and rides them into the sky and far away. 

chenle is left confused on the ground, thinking that jisung’s hair matched the color of the sky. 

 

really, though -- it was a miracle that chenle ran into yuta at all. he had been walking around, wondering how on earth he’d find any of those beings, when he saw something dark run past. he ran after it and, well, the rest is history. 

so now chenle is wandering around again, thinking about monsters, thinking about jisung. he wonders if he’s even strong enough to capture these beings -- jisung, probably, would have a much better chance, but he didn’t seem that happy. 

chenle thinks about how jisung said he needed training. how does he go about getting that, though?

later that night, he decides to try and ask poseidon. 

it’s always a flip of a coin to see if poseidon will answer his calls, so chenle tries to express urgency as he lays there in bed before he falls asleep, thinking,  _ poseeeidddonnn, poseiiidonnnnn, poseidooooonn.  _

this time, poseidon picks up. 

“you need something?” the tall man asks, arms crossed expectantly. 

“hey, dad.” chenle says. “i met a boy today.” 

“okay?” poseidon asks questioningly. “if you’re here to ask for love advice --” 

“no, no,” chenle shakes his head, “he was a son of zeus.” 

poseidon freezes. “son of zeus?” he asks. 

chenle nods, a little taken aback by his father’s reaction. “is that bad?” 

“how old was he?” poseidon asks. 

“my age,” chenle says. 

poseidon sits back on his throne with an expression that just says, ‘huh’. “i guess he survived then.” 

“who?” chenle asks. “jisung?” 

poseidon waves a dismissive hand. “it’s not that important. zeus’ll find out at some point. so, why did you need me?” 

“oh, well, jisung said that i need training.” 

“training?” poseidon asks, and then he thinks. “oh, like, hero training?” 

chenle nods. 

“you didn’t get that?” poseidon asks. 

chenle shakes his head. 

poseidon lets out a sigh. “must’ve forgotten,” he mutters to himself. “alright,” he says, “i’ll figure something out. go have, like, dreams or something.” 

“alright,” chenle says. “thanks dad!” 

the next morning, after a delicious breakfast made by his lovely mother, and their usual, overly sweet goodbyes, chenle is at his high school, about to head inside and see his best friend’s graduation. there’s only a year difference between them, but chenle is a sophomore because of his birthday, so it’ll be a while before he joins renjun in ‘graduation land’. 

the graduation was supposed to be a week ago, at a nearby college, but there was an attack, which chenle only later found out was done by one of the escaped beings. chenle had been terrified when it happened, and wanted to run and make sure everyone was okay, but he got herded out by the security. no one got hurt, though, and renjun replied to his texts to assure him that everything was fine. 

so now here chenle is, ready for his best friend to  _ actually  _ graduate. 

it’s at that time, though, that he sees red hair poking over the bushes and thinks that doesn’t make any sense. 

“excuse me,” chenle says, walking up to the other boy. “what are you doing?” 

the boy stands up. “oh, nothing at all,” he says unconvincingly. “dropped my pencil.” 

“your pencil?” chenle asks, peering at the boy’s hands. “did you find it? you’re not holding it.” 

“ah, no, i guess it rolled off. oh well,” he says. 

“no, i’m sure you can find it. let me help.” chenle says, getting on his hands and knees to peer around the bush. 

“oh, there’s really no need,” the boy assures him, but chenle is already looking. 

and then he feels a harsh pinch on his hand. 

he withdraws his hand and -- 

“holy fucking shit is that a snake?” 

chenle, without thinking, and fear running through his mind, steps on the snake. it’s squished under his foot from the force, and chenle stares at the blood pouring from his wound. 

“oh my god, what do i do, oh shit,” the red boy is running his mouth off. “that’s a poisonous snake i think, oh my god, oh my god, are you gonna die, oh god, all because i lied that i dropped my pencil,” 

“you lied?” chenle asks, looking up at him. 

“that’s not important right now!” red boy shrieks. “you just got bit by a snake!” 

“oh, right,” chenle says, looking down at his hand. “hold on, this has happened before.” 

“this has  _ happened  _ before?” 

maybe it’s because he’s losing blood, or just because he’s an absolute airhead, but what comes out of chenle’s mouth is, “yeah, i got bit by a serpent once.” even worse than that, though, is his actions. he begins to filter the poisoned blood out of his system, while keeping the uninfected blood inside himself, drawing water out of the ground to wet the mud and rubbing it over his wound. 

“oh,” red boy whispers, and chenle looks up with a start. 

“oh,” chenle says, but for a very different reason. 

but then the red boy says, “you’re a demigod,” and chenle’s eyes widen. 

“are you?” he asks, and red boy nods. 

“how did you do that?” red boy asks. 

“uh, when i got bit by that serpent before, i nearly died,” chenle explains, “and as i was laying there dying, i was like, there’s gotta be something i can do about this. and then i was like, isn’t blood seventy five percent water? what if i control my blood? and then it turned out i could.” 

red boy splutters. “you just -- you were dying, and you just --” 

chenle is just staring at him, and red boy runs out of words. 

“nevermind,” he says. “does that mean you’re a son of poseidon?” 

chenle nods. 

“huh,” red boy says. “so you’re a big three kid. shouldn’t you have been taught what you can do in case of an injury?” 

chenle tilts his head, confused. “i wasn’t taught anything,” he says. 

“anything?” red boy echoes. 

chenle shakes his head. “apparently, i was supposed to get ‘hero training’ or something, but my dad, like, forgot?” 

“you haven’t gotten hero training?” red boy asks, and chenle thinks this back and forth of the red boy being shocked is getting kind of tiring. 

“no, i haven’t.” chenle says. “have you?” 

“of course,” red boy says. “my mom taught me herself.” 

“oh, who’s your mom?” chenle asks. 

“eris,” red boy answers. 

chenle stares at him. 

red boy rolls his eyes. “goddess of discord and strife? caused the trojan war?” 

chenle thinks for a moment. “that war,” he says, “with helen?” 

“oh my god,” red boy says, “you haven’t been taught  _ anything _ .” 

 

after the graduation (red boy was ready to just go, but chenle adamantly  _ had  _ to see the graduation. when he started clapping like a maniac for renjun, the red boy gave him a look, but didn’t say a thing), the two headed back to chenle’s house. 

“so, you’re friends with one of the graduating seniors?” donghyuck -- red boy had, eventually, introduced himself as that -- asks as they wait for chenle’s mom to come pick them up. 

“yup,” chenle nods. “renjun, he’s super great. he lived in china when he was a baby, and he knows the language, so he could show me around when i didn’t know much english.” 

donghyuck lets out a pensive sort of hum, but doesn’t respond to chenle’s questioning look. 

chenle’s mom pulls up, and chenle forgets about the rest of that, happily bounding up to the car. 

“mom,” he calls as he throws open the passenger door, “i met a friend!” 

“oh, really?” mrs. zhong asks, curious. 

“mhm!” chenle nods enthusiastically, pointing towards donghyuck, who has come to stand next to him. “donghyuck! he’s a child of eris!” 

donghyuck stares at chenle, wide-eyed at how easily chenle talks about it. 

“oh, it’s okay,” mrs. zhong assures him. “i know all about the demigod stuff.” 

chenle nods at donghyuck, and then looks back to his mother, starting to clamber into the seat. after a moment, and a smile from mrs. zhong, donghyuck gets in the back. 

“i think dad must’ve sent him to me,” chenle says. “he said he’d figure something out last night.” 

“because you never got any training?” mrs. zhong asks, and chenle nods. “that’s good,” she says. “i’m always worried for you out there, but i’m sure you’ll be better off if you know more.” 

chenle nods in agreement. 

“okay, but,” donghyuck says, “how the  _ hell  _ \--” 

“language!” mrs. zhong says. 

“how the heck,” donghyuck corrects, “did you, a child of  _ poseidon, _ go so long without knowing anything? creatures would’ve been all over you, trying to get that gold star that says ‘you killed a big three kid!’” 

“there’s a gold star for that?” chenle asks, donghyuck huffs. “oh, uh, i don’t know, really. i just sort of always went with stuff. and, i mean, a ton of monsters attacked me in china, but there are less monsters here because the air is better.” 

donghyuck stares at chenle from the back seat.  _ “what?”  _ he asks. 

“a bunch of mons--” 

“that’s not why i said ‘what’, chenle,” donghyuck interrupts. “i mean, that’s not how it works at all.” 

“huh?” chenle asks, turning in his seat so he could look at donghyuck better. “but i mentioned that to my dad when i got here, and he said it was right.” 

“did he?” donghyuck asks skeptically. 

“yeah,” chenle says, thinking back to the moment. “he was staring at this book of scrolls, half listening, and --” chenle pauses. “huh.” 

“yeah,” donghyuck drawls, “thought it was something like that. 

“so, why have there been less monsters now, then?” chenle asks. 

donghyuck studies chenle, and chenle stares back, because he’s not sure why it’s happening. 

finally, donghyuck says, “they’re going after someone else.” 

“really?” chenle asks. “who?” 

donghyuck studies chenle again, but then shakes his head. “that’s not important. you’ll find out on your own time, i’m sure, and it shouldn’t come out of my mouth.” 

chenle’s brow is furrowed in confusion, but donghyuck ignores it. he stares through the window, ending the conversation, chenle turns back in his seat with a shrug. 

they arrive at chenle’s home, and his mom tells them “good luck” before sending them upstairs (after a hug from her son). chenle leads the way into his room, and donghyuck laughs when chenle opens the door. 

“cute,” he mutters, taking in the small yellow birds painted onto the wall. they’re flying in the sky, past fluffy white clouds, and long strands of grass and wheat are painted below the birds. 

chenle takes a seat on the purple covers of his bed, and donghyuck leans against chenle’s desk. 

“so,” donghyuck begins. 

once he starts talking, he doesn’t stop. chenle’s brain is spinning by the time two hours passed. years worth of mythology that he never learned has been shoved into tiny spaces in his brain, and he’s not sure how much he’s actually managed to retain. there’s a list in his hand of books that would be good for him to read, but he can’t remember when it got there. 

“now, powers,” donghyuck says, and chenle lets out a pained groan. 

“there’s more?” chenle whines. 

“i’m just covering the basics here, buddy,” donghyuck warns him. “all this information could save your life, so you better listen.” 

chenle sighs, but nods. 

“monsters are attracted to power,” donghyuck says. “they like the feeling of it, or something, we don’t really know. but they can sense it, for sure, and they always go after people with great power. that’s why big three kids are always in more danger than the children of minor gods and goddesses. and the more power you have, the harder it is to control your power. so, basically, your life kinda sucks.” 

“yippee,” chenle says, and donghyuck snorts. “but why hasn’t controlling my power been a problem for me, then?” 

“my guess?” donghyuck says. “you’re just a genius, or something.” 

“really?” chenle asks, looking a little proud. 

donghyuck shrugs. “it’s different for everybody. maybe you just happened to have amazing control over your abilities. it helps when you have a stable, happy mind and stuff like that, too. the less susceptible you are to sadness and weakness in your heart, the easier it is to control magic. so part of it is your strange capability, i guess, and part of it could be your life.” 

chenle hums in understanding. 

“anyway,” donghyuck continues, “gods and goddesses have a lot of different things they can control, obviously. and kinda like with normal human genes, their kids only get some of their powers. the big thing, like poseidon’s water, is always inherited, but other things might not be. so a big part of hero training is finding out what you can do. usually, you’d want it to be done with someone who has the same parent, or your parent themself, but poseidon  _ is  _ a big three, so i should have a good grasp of his abilities.” 

the two of them go outside (after eating lunch with mrs. zhong), and donghyuck takes chenle through the different things poseidon can do. most of them, chenle already knows about -- water, of course, and making it either hotter or colder. talking to horses and underwater animals is one chenle already knows he can do, which he confirms when donghyuck asks. controlling blood, which is largely made of water, is one donghyuck has already seen chenle do, so they skip over that (“because it’s really violent, so i’d rather not test it out,” donghyuck tells chenle, though he also mentions that chenle should be capable of, “boiling or freezing blood”, which sort of scares the younger boy). 

they test out electricity, but chenle has absolutely no control over it. he stares at the lights in his house for a solid five minutes, but the only thing that happens is he gets those weird spots in his vision that you get from staring at light. chenle can control rain (when he sees the way the clouds move and the water falls from the sky, causing a shower even with the sun, he wishes he had tested it out earlier), though he can’t fly (he hops four or five times, but he can’t even jump  _ high, _ let alone fly). 

shapeshifting, donghyuck says, is a rare ability that most gods have, but few demigods have. chenle, it seems, does not have the ability, and he finds that he also can’t cause earthquakes, like poseidon apparently can. 

“i think that’s everything,” donghyuck surmises. “since we’ve got a grasp of what you can do, now, we can use that to start testing out and learning what specific things you can do with those abilities.” 

they spend another several hours on that, until both chenle’s mind  _ and  _ his body are completely exhausted, the sun is setting, and chenle’s mom calls them in to ask if donghyuck is staying for dinner. 

“i’ve imposed for too long,” donghyuck says. “i should get going.” 

he promises to come back the next day, and then he heads off. 

after donghyuck leaves, and chenle eats dinner, the brown-haired boy lays on his stomach on his bed, eating haribo gummies and thinking about jisung. he wonders what the other boy is doing, how he’s feeling. he thinks it’s a shame how they parted ways, and scolds himself for not asking for jisung’s number. 

chenle keeps thinking about jisung’s expression when they talked about the escaped beings, even when it’s late, late into the night, and the world is asleep. he keeps wondering what it meant, what those emotions were. but even when he falls asleep at the early hours of the morning, he hasn’t come to an answer. 

 

the next day, chenle asks donghyuck how you meet other demigods. 

“i don’t really know,” donghyuck admits. “it just sort of happens? there are times when you can guess that someone else is a demigod, or where you even see them doing demigod things, but… there are a lot of times where we walk past other demigods without seeing a thing.” 

“so there’s no…” chenle shrugs, “like, demigod network or something? some place to find others?” 

donghyuck shakes his head. “it’s dangerous. gatherings of demigods will bring monsters, and demigods aren’t, admittedly, always the good guys. usually, in your life, you’ll come across at least one or two other demigods, and that ends up being the most you can ask for. it’s not so bad though, in my opinion.” he gives chenle a look. “why all these questions?” 

chenle bites his lip, kicking his legs. they’re sitting in chenle’s bedroom again, but this time chenle is sitting at his desk. 

“i met this demigod boy the day before i met you.” chenle admits, and donghyuck listens with curiosity. “he’s the one who made me realize i’ve never gotten hero training.” 

“yeah?” donghyuck asks. “how’d you meet him?” 

“he saved me while i was fighting yuta,” chenle responds. donghyuck has already been informed of most of the issues surrounding chenle’s quest, and he nods. “his name is jisung,” chenle adds. 

donghyuck pauses. “jisung?” he echoes. “funny question, but you wouldn’t mean, like, park jisung?” 

“i didn’t get his last name,” chenle tells him. 

“blue hair,” donghyuck says immediately, and chenle’s face brightens. 

“you know him?” chenle asks. 

donghyuck’s face, however, looks like a cross between bitterness, irritation, and amusement. “i can’t believe  _ jisung  _ is a demigod,” he mutters. 

“how do you know him?” chenle asks, a little more hesitant because of donghyuck’s expression. 

“we’re in a dance group together,” donghyuck explains. “jisung only joined this year, but the little brat keeps trying to steal my position in the center.” 

chenle hesitates, not sure if donghyuck dislikes jisung or not. 

donghyuck glances up at him. “wanna meet him?” 

chenle nods yes. 

 

“hey, bitch,” is how donghyuck begins the phone call, and chenle is already wondering if this is a bad idea. “you gotta meet up with me and a friend right now.” faintly, chenle can hear a voice on the other end responding. “not important,” donghyuck says. “come to the park. bye.” 

and then donghyuck hangs up.  

donghyuck drove to chenle’s house this time, so he drives them to the park, a tupperware of blueberries that chenle’s mother gave them in hand. 

jisung is already standing there when they arrive. donghyuck gets out of the car first, shooting jisung a wave and getting an eye roll in response. hesitantly, chenle steps out, and jisung freezes. 

“hey, buddy boy,” donghyuck says, strolling over. “i learned the coolest thing earlier today.” 

“oh... yeah?” jisung asks hesitantly. 

donghyuck swings an arm over jisung’s shoulder. “my lil boy here’s a demigod!” he announces. “i can’t believe you never told me,” he says, placing a hand over his heart and gasping, just to be over dramatic. 

jisung’s eyes widen comically, and he swings around to face donghyuck. “are you  --” 

and when donghyuck’s wide grin is what greets jisung in response, he knows. 

“oh shit,” jisung says. he glances back behind them, to where chenle is standing. 

“c’mon, chenle,” donghyuck waves him over. “you’re the reason we’re here.” 

chenle carefully closes the distance between them, stopping in front of jisung. 

“uh, hey,” jisung greets awkwardly. 

“hey,” chenle greets in response. 

donghyuck glances between the two of them, then says, “wow, would you look at that, i seem to have coincidentally forgotten something in my car. i’m just gonna go get that, huh?” and then he slid away, jisung rolling his eyes after the boy. 

“so, uh,” chenle says. and then, because jisung is silent and he doesn’t know what to say, he launches into the full story. all the way from asking his dad to send him some help, to getting bit by a snake, to donghyuck teaching him. “and then today i asked him if there was any way to find other demigods, because, like, i wanted to see you again, and apologize or something --” 

“apologize?” jisung finally interrupts, confused. 

chenle nods. “it’s just, it seemed like i upset you when we met, and i still don’t know how i did that even though i gave it a lot of thought, but i didn’t want to upset you, and --” 

“woah, woah, slow down,” jisung tells him. “you’ve been going way too fast for a while now,” he adds with a short laugh. “you don’t need to apologize,” he says. 

“really?” chenle asks. 

“yeah,” jisung says. “i got upset all on my own, you didn’t do anything. and you wouldn’t have known, anyway.” 

“known?” chenle echoes questioningly. 

jisung pauses for a moment, his breath freezing like he hadn’t meant to say that. “no,” he swallows, “it’s not important.” 

chenle frowns lightly, studying jisung. he had asked to see the boy, and thought about him the whole night, and the entire car ride there, but he still didn’t know what to say, or what he wanted to say. “i don’t know much about the gods,” chenle finally admits, jisung glancing towards him curiously. “even though i’m poseidon’s child, there’s never been anyone to teach me anything. so i don’t know about monsters, or tartarus, or myth stories most demigods should know. so if you think this quest is a bad idea, then i want you to tell me, because i’ll believe you.” 

“why?” jisung asks quietly. 

chenle doesn’t think about it, doesn’t really need to. he just says the honest truth. “because i want to.” 

“you don’t even know me,” jisung argues weakly. 

chenle shrugs. “don’t need to,” he says decidedly. 

jisung stares at him, and chenle stares back. jisung’s expression is a little shaky, a little scared, but chenle’s is confident. he doesn’t know anything, but he figures he’s got jisung here now, so he’ll be determined regardless. 

finally, jisung leans back and crosses his arms. “there’s a lot of shit my dad does,” he finally says. “and i don’t know much about it, but i know rumors, and things that i think have a good chance of being true. there are stories about some of the monsters trapped in tartarus. they say that… that the monsters aren’t there because they deserved to be there, but because zeus, and other gods too, pushed them so far that they had to be put there, or because they were challenging the gods, and they didn’t like that. so, when i heard that you were capturing monsters from tartarus, i thought… probably, my dad just wanted to brush things under the carpets, the way he always does.”

chenle nods, understanding. “then i want to find out,” chenle says. 

“huh?” jisung asks. 

“i want to find out,” chenle says. “what the creatures i’m hunting were in tartarus for. if it’s because they were killers, because they did bad things, then i’ll take them back. but if it’s the gods’ fault, if they were wronged, and if they can be saved, then i want to do something different. i don’t know what, i don’t even know if there’s anything we could do, but it’s worth a try, right?” 

jisung stares at him for a moment, and then asks, “seriously?”

chenle nods. 

“has anyone ever told you, you’re probably way too trusting?” jisung asks, and chenle grins. 

“all the time,” he says. “but they never tell me to change.” 

jisung can’t help the grin that appears on his face. 

they gesture back to donghyuck, to tell him he can come back. when he does, and they explain the situation, donghyuck just grins. 

“i thought maybe i could trust you,” he says, and then ruffles chenle’s hair. 

“what?” chenle asks, confused. 

“i’ve actually got a little bit of beef with zeus,” he says, “and this little mission you’re on, chenle.” 

“what do you mean?” chenle asks. 

“i mean,” donghyuck says, “that one of the monsters you’re hunting is my buddy johnny. and he’s no villain.” 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> donghyuck. also johnny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i meant to post this chapter earlier bc i wanted to post a lot over break but,,, that didn't work out. i guess i needed a bit of a, like, mourning period or something. didn't feel right to post this right after the 31.  
> but anyway!! at least here (and in my heart), 7dream lives.

donghyuck met johnny when he was fifteen. 

there’s a lot to donghyuck’s life, in a way; discord shadows are painted all over him. 

but in another way, those shadows come from before he was born, from the life of his father. 

it’s one of donghyuck’s abilities, something that comes with being eris’ son. he can see shadows, the signs of conflict in someone’s life. in most cases, they first wrap themselves around the person’s body, like a boa constrictor -- a sign of approaching or existing strife. and then they wrap themselves around the person’s heart, the sign that it’s begun to emotionally affect the person. 

donghyuck’s never really gotten a good look at himself. even in the mirror, or in photos, what he really sees is conflict’s big grin, that snake of strife that’s existed for as long as he knows. and it’ll always exist, he’s sure, because donghyuck is half-chaos, and so his life is chaos. he doesn’t even have to do anything to cause problems, but he’s the sort of guy who likes to cause problems anyway, so this is just how it is. donghyuck, the half man, half shadow. 

just like donghyuck is, donghyuck’s father too was covered in shadows. donghyuck only knew him for the first years of his life, before he died of illness. but donghyuck’s heard the stories over and over, not just because eris likes to tell them, but because donghyuck likes to hear them. 

his father lived in the ‘bad area of the city’. the ‘prostitutes corner’, the ‘homeless streets’, where strife flourished, and so did death. donghyuck’s father lived there with his brother from the time they were both very young, after their mother died and their abusive father kicked them out of their home. and then his brother died, and it was just donghyuck’s father, all by himself. 

but, eris tells donghyuck, no matter how dark his life got, donghyuck’s father never let the shadows wrap around his heart. his life was always conflicted, the shadows practically engulfed him, but there was that white of light that shone from his heart, the proof that he was still living, still pure. and he was love, in so many ways: helping others, caring always, giving what little he had, and giving love if he had nothing. he often had nothing. 

eris, unlike most other gods and goddesses, has the right to directly influence humans (to an extent at least) at all times. she can walk on earth in human form, watch the people, and cause strife. she can, because strife is, in fact, a necessary part of human life. she keeps humanity moving by destroying it, really. and so, she was of course drawn to the place where donghyuck’s father lived. and there she saw him, saw his strange mix of shadows and purity. so she spoke to him, fueled by curiosity as she often is. 

and then, for the one and only time in her entire, immortal existence, she fell in love. 

there are plenty of other gods who sleep around with humans and do whatever they want, but it was different for eris. she had never slept with a human, she had never loved a human. as a whole, she liked humanity. they fed her conflict and her mischief, they were entertaining, and they were purely human in a way that made them interesting. but she had never loved one single human, until donghyuck’s father. 

after she fell in love, she told donghyuck’s father she would free him. she was a goddess, so she could pull him out of the darkness, give him everything he asked for. 

but there was nothing, he said, that he could ask for. what better place on earth could he be than where he was? it was the place he was given, the place he really feels he was actually born. it was a dark, disgusting place; it was his home. and it was the one place where he constantly had people to help, where he could constantly do good. it was where the injured souls went, so how could he leave them? he was one of them, anyway. 

but there was one request he had. he knew he would die soon enough, considering how he had lived. so he asked eris if he could leave something behind on this world. if he could have a child, if she could care for that child. he wanted a legacy that lived bright and strong, that affected the world after he was gone. but he wanted it to be cared for in the way he never was, he wanted it to have love and happiness and chances at all the things it wanted. he wanted it to have dreams, and to follow them; he wanted it to be strongly alive and strongly human and happy. 

and so, donghyuck was born. his father died three years later, and eris took care of him from then on. she gave him a home, food, money, even put him in school. she made it so humans didn’t think twice about this little kid, living all on his own, except for a strange woman that would come and go. and it was difficult in many ways; eris was a goddess who knew little about humans other than their discord. but she cared for donghyuck, even if she was a sort of awful parent, and she did her best to figure things out. 

donghyuck was lonely, at a good many points, but never completely, never painfully. he felt like there was something; the remnants of his father’s love, or the watchful eyes of eris when she couldn’t be there taking care of him. so he was never completely alone, just often and mostly, and he could deal with it, because part of him felt like it wouldn’t last. and, y’know, he’d always had good intuition. 

his life, growing up, was pretty good. he did whatever he wanted; he had inherited his mother’s mischief, and he used it as much as he wanted. caused trouble, played pranks (though he always kept in mind not to harm others). but there was one thing that took donghyuck a long time to find. his father had wanted dreams for him, chances at anything he wanted to do, but donghyuck didn’t know what that was. he tried plenty of things at school, but they didn’t really click. 

and then, one day, as he stood in the grocery store, looking for the chocolate bars, he saw one of the workers. a tall man, dark hair, and shadows. shadows everywhere, all over him, swimming on his body, yet not on his heart. it reminded donghyuck of what eris had told him about his father: shadowy body, pure heart. 

he left the grocery store, sat there with his groceries, and called his mom. and when she saw that tall man, she had the same thought. 

“he looks like your father.” 

after eris told donghyuck that this man was definitely a demigod, donghyuck decided to approach him. when the man left the grocery store, done with his work for the day, donghyuck went up to him. it was probably a shock for him, having this fifteen year old kid go up to him and say, “hey, you’re a demigod, right”, but he still went with it. donghyuck found out his name was johnny, he was twenty, and he owned a dance studio with a friend of his named sicheng. 

somehow, the two of them became something like friends. they spent time together, texted and called and laughed, and eventually, donghyuck joined johnny’s dance studio, just because. 

it was there that he found what he was looking for -- where he found dreams. not just dancing, but music, in a way he hadn’t thought of it before. he had loved music, of course, but it never clicked for him that he could have it, that it could be his dream and his future. there are stories in music, love in it, and he could  _ feel  _ it in his bones. music holds a bit of chaos, he thinks; music can be built by chaos, and chaos can be built by music, and so they are intertwined, and music is intertwined in him. 

he loved it; he loves it. 

but as he spent that time with johnny, he started to see something. the shadows over that man, already thick as can be, were growing, taking him over. and they were starting to seep into his heart, too, tainting him. and johnny was disappearing for days, coming back more shadowy than before and looking pained. 

donghyuck wanted to do something, but didn’t know what to do, didn’t know why it was happening. and then, before he knew it, not long after a year had passed, johnny disappeared. just like that. he had gone to visit his family in korea (or so his story went), but he never came back. sicheng told donghyuck that johnny was going to live with his korean family because his parents were sick, but donghyuck knew that it was a lie, told probably because there were too many kids in the studio that sicheng didn’t want to hurt with the news. 

it wasn’t donghyuck’s fault, of course, but donghyuck couldn’t help but feel a sense of responsibility. he had seen the shadows, but he had been scared. so instead of doing anything, he had hid, and johnny ended up disappearing. so he decided to do the one thing he could: he would try to find johnny. 

eris told donghyuck what she knew -- just little tidbits, because the gods and goddesses didn’t tell her anything, so she had to sneak around and learn things herself. it seemed like zeus had done something to johnny; he had been trying to make him a weapon, or something like that. all she really knew for certain, was that johnny was locked away, and there was very little chance of getting him out. eris could give it a shot too, but there was a chance she herself would be thrown into tartarus, and as much as she loved donghyuck, she would rather not be. 

donghyuck tried to figure things out himself, see how johnny could be saved, how he could stop the gods. he heard from eris of some incredible demigod child of zeus who had tried to overthrow their father, but apparently that person had failed, too. 

and then, finally, through some miracle of chance, johnny and two others (including the child of zeus) escaped from tartarus. donghyuck had immediately gone to look for him, but when he finally found him, at a hunting cabin he had used many times, he wasn’t in his right mind. he didn’t recognize donghyuck, and he burned the entire cabin down. 

“and then," donghyuck finishes, “i happened to run into you, chenle, and the rest is history.” 

chenle and jisung are sitting on the grass with him, blueberries set down between them, but no one is eating. the two boys are just staring at donghyuck, eyes and mouths wide. 

“dude,” jisung finally says, “that’s fucking insane.” 

chenle nods an agreement. 

“i was ready to fight you, for the record,” donghyuck informs chenle. “after you told me about the mission you were on, i kinda put the dots together, so if you decided to be my enemy and try to capture johnny, i was going to.” 

chenle snorts. “i’m glad i didn’t make that decision, then.” 

donghyuck nods sagely. “you seemed like a real sweet guy, so i wanted to give you a chance.” 

“but why did you help me, then?” chenle asks. “if we had ended up being enemies, wouldn’t it be better for you if i didn’t know anything?” 

“two reasons,” donghyuck says, finally popping some blueberries into his mouth. “one,” he holds up a finger, “because even if we end up being enemies, i wouldn’t want you killed at some point by a monster. and two,” he holds up two fingers, “because i like a lil bit a danger, and bad decisions.” 

jisung rolls his eyes. “you being eris’ kid makes so much sense,” he mutters. 

donghyuck just shrugs and grins. 

“so, what do we do now?” chenle asks. “will you be able to find johnny again?” 

“johnny,” donghyuck says slowly, “didn’t have a lot of places that important to him. he just had the few, the ones that really mattered, and they were enough to him. he had that hunting cabin, he had his dance studio, and he had his home. he can’t go back to the dance studio, probably, and he’s not going back home.”

chenle glances at him. “why not?” 

“it’s gone,” donghyuck tells him. “they tore down his apartment building a year ago; it’s just an empty lot now.” 

“so basically,” jisung says, “you’ve got nothing.” 

“i’ve got nothing,” donghyuck confirms.  _ "he’s  _ got nothing,” he adds. 

“would he go back to that cabin?” chenle wonders. 

“it’s a crime scene right now.” donghyuck answers. “worse, there are police officers looking for him.” 

“they know he caused the fire?” jisung asks. 

“they know he was  _ in  _ it,” donghyuck corrects. “bit of an issue with this other demigod who’s trying to capture johnny.” 

“someone on chenle’s mission?” jisung asks. 

donghyuck nods. 

“but he’s actually your enemy,” jisung adds, and donghyuck nods again. “why?” 

“didn’t seem as sweet or nice as our lil chenle here,” donghyuck answers. 

“that’s it?” jisung asks. 

“well, most of it,” donghyuck says. “plus, we met in a kinda bad situation. and also, he’s dangerous, and doesn’t have the control over his powers that chenle has.” 

“who is he?” chenle asks. 

donghyuck eyes chenle. “that’s,” he says, “something for you to learn, later.” 

chenle furrows his brow in confusion. “you don’t want me to know?” he asks. 

“i don’t want to spoil the secret,” donghyuck corrects. “cause it’s not mine to spoil.” 

“well, anyway,” jisung interrupts, “what should we do?” 

“i’d like to get another look at the cabin, if possible.” donghyuck says. “see if he left any signs of where he went, maybe something only a demigod can see. i tried before, but the cops were all over the place. it should be calmer by now.”

“should we go there, then?” chenle asks. 

donghyuck purses his lips, then says, “nah, i think i’ll go on my own. the fewer people there, the less attention we attract.” 

the other two nod understandingly. 

“anyway, i’ve got a mission for you two,” he continues, and they give him a curious look. “chenle, you know that demigod child of zeus?” donghyuck asks. “one of the three that escaped?” 

chenle nods. 

“i’m pretty sure i heard johnny talking to him once or twice, on the phone. i think they’ve gotta be related somehow, and he seems like he’ll be the most sane of the group. i want you two to try to find him, somehow.” 

chenle and jisung agree to it, and with that, they go their separate ways to find the truths they’re looking for, united in a cause. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> renjun whoopsed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shortest chapter of probably the entire story, but kinda rough. theres a mention of suicide, nothing graphic at all, but still. 
> 
> also, this is officially my last day of break, so updates might get really sporadic from here on out.

for two days, nothing happens. 

renjun has his graduation, gets that goddamn diploma he was waiting for, and is set free. jeno calls him once or twice, he does his oscar-winning performances of sadness, and that’s it. he stays out too late, sitting in the park staring at the sky, avoiding his mother. he ignores confused texts and calls from jaemin and mark, because he could probably separate from them in at least twelve better ways, but his best skills are fucking things up and ignoring problems. 

really, renjun still can’t figure out for the life of him why he ended up involving himself with them. before he had realized, they were there, and then he remembered that this was his problem, and his alone. everything in his life was his problem, no one else’s, and he wasn’t gonna push his shit on anyone else. they’d get too close, probably, and then they’d get scarred, and renjun didn’t need that. he didn’t need it on his hands. better to deal with things on his own, the way he was supposed to, and cause trouble for no one, including himself. 

and then renjun gets a call from taeyong, asking to meet up. 

maybe he should have questioned it right off the bat, but instead, he drives to taeyong’s house without thinking a thing, without wondering why taeyong needs to see him face to face. 

he starts to understand, though, when he sees the slight frown on taeyong’s face after the man lets renjun into his house. 

“look,” taeyong says, crossing his arms and leaning against the door, sort of like closing off an escape route. “i can help you. i really can, that’s what i’m here to do. but if all you do is lie, then i can’t even understand what it is you’re trying to do. so, can we try the truth this time, renjun?” 

renjun is standing in the middle of the hallway, hair a little wet because it’s just begun to rain, and getting really,  _ really  _ tired. 

tired of all of this; tired of this lying, of this acting, of this  _ goddamn  _ quest, of things going badly, of every shitty part of his life -- and just about every part was shitty.  

“i don’t know what you’re talking about,” renjun says, but it’s bland, it’s not even trying, and taeyong knows, so he scoffs.

“i went to the cabin again today,” taeyong says. “thought i’d make sure no one’s caused any trouble. and i see a red-haired kid there,” 

oh.

“so i thought maybe he was the one you knew, maybe he was looking for johnny. so i asked him if his name was haechan, but he told me it was donghyuck. i thought maybe it was the wrong person, at first, but when i asked him why he was looking around the cabin, he told me he was trying to find a friend. i asked him who -- can you guess what name he said?”

renjun rolls his eyes. at least he knows that annoying kid’s name now. 

“he told me you probably lied to me, renjun.” taeyong says. “and he told me that you don’t know johnny at all. and when i asked him how he knew, he told me he’s had a ‘run-in’ with you before. didn’t tell me more than that, but he told me enough.” 

“maybe he was the one lying,” renjun says dully. 

“yeah?” taeyong asks. “then why could he tell me more about johnny than you could? why could he tell me about the dance studio, and then even let me confirm that johnny owned it, and that he danced there, and that no one had ever heard of you?” 

renjun thinks about it, wonders if there’s any way he can dig himself out of this one. 

there isn’t. 

“well,” renjun sighs, “i guess i’m out of luck, officer. you got me. gonna arrest me now?” 

taeyong looks incredibly pissed, and renjun would almost find it funny, but he’s on a bit of a suicide mission or something at this point. he’s barely been at home these past two days, gotten no more than an hour and a half of sleep, and he’s barely eaten. he wants to go somewhere that no one else can be, somewhere he can just sleep forever and cry forever and maybe get a final goddamn meal. so he doesn’t care what happens here, doesn’t care if he gets arrested. at least then he can’t complete his quest, and it’s not on him anymore. 

“look, renjun.” taeyong says. “i just want to understand why. why are you lying to me?” 

a weak sigh escapes renjun, not quite the reaction taeyong was expecting. maybe fear, maybe even anger, but not this -- not renjun, dead tired and looking weak. 

“you’re right,” renjun breathes out quietly. taeyong raises an eyebrow. “i’ve lied to you.” renjun says. “a lot, actually. pretty awful.” he glances at taeyong and brushes wet hair out of his face, but ignores the droplets of rainwater that slide down his cheek. “and, really? the only explanation i can give you, is that i can’t give you one. i’ve been trying something, i guess, but it hasn’t worked out. not much i do does, honestly.” he takes a step towards the door, and taeyong stands firm in front of it. “you can arrest me, if you want.” renjun says. “try to force the truth out of me. i won’t even stop you.” 

“stop me?” taeyong echoes with a scoff. “you think you could stop me? you’re a twig, renjun, and i’m a police officer.” 

“i could stop you,” renjun says, calmly, easily, and taeyong looks surprised at how he says it. “but i won’t. just this once, i’ll let you make this decision,” renjun says. “what’ll you do?” 

taeyong stares at him, at his tired expression, at his easy confidence.  

“i’m not going to arrest you,” he finally says. “because i don’t think you’re a criminal. but i can’t, as a police officer, let you just walk out of this house.” he studies renjun again. “at least tell me this,” he says. “are you going to get someone hurt?” 

renjun thinks about that for a moment. there’s a good chance he might get hurt, but only because he’s fighting beings from tartarus. 

“i don’t know,” renjun finally admits. “but if someone gets hurt, then probably, they weren’t meant to.” 

_ and probably, _ he thinks,  _ they’ll be me. _

__

taeyong frowns. “what are you getting yourself into, renjun?” he mutters, almost as much to himself as it is to renjun. 

__

“nothing fun,” renjun tells him. 

__

“then why are you doing it?” taeyong asks. 

__

“sometimes,” renjun says, “i wonder the same thing.” 

__

he really does -- wonders what happens if he walks away from hades, from gods, from demigods. does he get struck down? or can he walk away? he doesn’t know, and maybe he’s scared. scared, because as much as he hates being a demigod, it’s also so much of his life. and without it, he doesn’t know what he becomes. 

__

except maybe an abused boy with a shitty life. 

__

when renjun goes for the door, taeyong doesn’t stop him, but he doesn’t seem happy about the decision either. 

__

 

__

hell doesn’t stop going after renjun. 

__

maybe it’s because it’s in his blood; the underworld, hell, whatever it is. maybe he’s cursed. 

__

or maybe he’s just a fucking idiot. 

__

he’s standing in the rain, staring up at the sky, in the same park as always. his phone rings. it’s jaemin, so he means to ignore it as always, but the voicemail starts going. 

__

“renjun,” jaemin’s voice comes through, confused and uncertain. the rain is battering renjuns face, soaking his clothes, and jaemin’s voice only barely cuts through it. “i didn’t know what to do about you, uh, cutting us out, or whatever this is. so i… went to your house.” 

__

renjun’s blood freezes. he prays this isn’t what he thinks it is, that it isn’t the worst thing it could be, that jaemin didn’t -- 

__

“i met your mom.” 

__

fuck. 

__

“she said she doesn’t have a son?” jaemin continues. “but when i kept insisting that you lived there, she suddenly started going on about this liar boy -- about you, that is. said that you ruined her life, but you weren’t ever coming back home. and then, she suddenly started saying that you had died. said that you went to the bathroom and you --” jaemin curses, stops speaking for a moment. there’s a thud, like he dropped the phone. finally, he picks it back up, and says, in a choked whisper, “she said that you committed suicide.” 

__

renjun’s blood isn’t moving anymore, his heart isn’t beating. he wonders if this is what the ghosts feel like all the time. 

__

“you haven’t, right?” jaemin says. “please pick up the phone. talk to me. i know i might not be that important to you, just this guy who was in your life for a couple of days, but since i was in your life at all, can’t you… can’t you at least tell me you’re still here? if you hate me, or you don’t want to see me again, or whatever this is, okay, but… at least pick up. please, renjun.” 

__

eventually, when renjun still hasn’t moved, jaemin sighs. 

__

“well, uh,” he says. “that’s it, i guess. please call me, or text me, or something. tell me you’re alright. uh... yeah. bye.” 

__

he hangs up, leaving renjun alone with silence and the loud, gushing rain. 

__

that night, laying on the soaked grass, hidden by the shadows, he holds his phone in his hand. he begins a text to jaemin, types the words, “i didn’t kill myself”. 

__

his thumb hovers over send. 

__

his phone dies. 

__


	6. Chapter 6

jaemin’s heart is thumping fast, and it’s been hours. it’s become that ungodly time between morning and night that can count as either, but he’s still clutching his phone, still hearing ms. huang’s words ringing in his head, still desperately waiting for renjun to tell him something. 

it’s not just that he doesn’t want renjun to be dead, though of course that’s part of it. it’s that he had seen something about renjun, from the very beginning. something a little weak, a little dark, a little lonely. it’s because of renjun’s sarcasm, his wittiness; it’s because of how emotional he is, and how bad he is at hiding it without even knowing. that’s why jaemin’s so scared. because he wanted to save renjun -- or so he could say. 

but he’s aphrodite’s son, so he knows. knows that he falls in love a way nobody else falls in love. knows that the sun was shining through renjun’s eyes the day they met, knows that it was like aphrodite's magic playing on renjun’s skin as jaemin’s heart beat too fast and his face flushed just a little, and time seemed to slow down. and he knows that there was a tingle through his heart when he grabbed renjun’s wrist after they’d met that maroon-haired boy, that there was a buzz of electricity. 

he knows he’s falling in love, or he’ll be in love. 

what he doesn’t know is how he’ll handle that, and what he’ll do if he never sees renjun again. 

jaemin never sleeps that night. at four in the morning, he throws on his shoes, not even changing out of his pajamas, and makes the fifteen minute walk to taeyong’s house. he rings the doorbell, and taeyong opens it too fast for him to have been asleep before. 

he opens his mouth to say something, but then he sees that it’s jaemin, in his pajamas at four in the morning, and bites his lip. 

“come in,” he says quietly, and jaemin does. 

there’s another boy in the living room, with silver hair and a conflicted expression. jaemin ignores the way his heart flinches, because he’s so tired he can’t even process it. not even when his eyes meet the other boy’s, and the air sparkles just a little, does jaemin realize what it means. 

“sorry,” taeyong says to jaemin. “we were discussing something.” 

jaemin shakes his head. “it’s okay,” he says quietly. 

taeyong sits down on the couch, and after a moment, jaemin sits next to him. 

“this is jeno,” taeyong says, gesturing to the silver haired boy. 

jaemin nods. “i’m jaemin,” he says, offering a weak smile, and jeno attempts to return it. both of them seem much too tired to get anywhere. there’s a beat of painful silence, so jaemin asks, “what were you guys talking about?” 

“a case,” taeyong says. “fire at a cabin.” 

jaemin starts. he knows about that one. 

“it’s ended up becoming… a bit too complicated.” taeyong admits. 

“why?” jaemin asks. he doesn’t even need to use his magic; taeyong is exhausted, and he spills without thinking. 

“there was this kid,” he starts, and jeno clears his throat awkwardly. 

“isn’t this, like… confidential?” he asks. 

taeyong sighs. “yeah,” he says, “it is, but jaemin’s trustworthy. and, actually, i’d sort of like some advice.” 

“advice?” jaemin asks. 

taeyong nods. “there was this boy there. he -- well, it’s a long story, but he lied to us. pretended someone had been in the fire, someone he knew. he gave us a name and appearance for another boy who knew the person in the fire, but when i coincidentally spotted that person yesterday, i found out that he has a different name. and that the boy from before had lied to us. so i confronted the boy yesterday, but he… something was off. i don’t really know, just… he was fearless, and more than that, he seemed so… hopeless. i let him go, because i didn’t know what else to do, but…” 

jaemin listens intently, but something about the story sticks out to him. 

someone who would lie like that, someone related to the fire at the cabin. it’s a long shot, maybe, or maybe it’s not, but jaemin thinks it’s more likely than it should be, because his heart is telling him so. 

“you might remember him,” taeyong says, and jaemin knows he’s right. “he was asking questions about the explosion at that graduation ceremony the other day.” 

jaemin’s heart thuds heavy, fast, hard, and jaemin almost thinks he’s about to die right on the spot. 

“do you remember him?” taeyong asks. “his name’s renjun.” 

in an instant, jaemin’s heart has stopped beating entirely. 

he clutches at the plaid of his pajama pants, staring at the ground with wide eyes. 

it was renjun. which means that renjun is alive, he hadn’t killed himself, he’s  _ alive _ \-- 

“jaemin?” 

jaemin startles. “where is he?” jaemin asks taeyong. 

“um,” taeyong says, “i don’t know. i called his address a couple of times, but no one ever picked up.” 

“he’s not there anyway,” jaemin says. “do you know where he went?” 

“wait, hold on,” jeno interrupts. “do you know him?” 

jaemin’s eyes are wide, and maybe a bit fearful, as he looks between the other two there. “it’s a long story,” jaemin says. “but i need to see him.” 

he hadn’t been sure before. he thought maybe renjun was avoiding him for a reason, and so he shouldn’t talk to the other boy. and then, after hearing that renjun might be dead, he got so scared, and he didn’t know what to do. he could’ve talked to mark, could’ve had him do his spell, but instead he just laid in bed, scared. scared renjun wouldn’t call, but also so scared that he couldn’t bear to seek the other boy out. 

and now, by some sort of miracle, taeyong and jeno had met renjun, and jaemin is there with them now. he can’t just look it over, can’t keep running or being scared. renjun is alive, and jaemin has to do something this time. 

jeno studies jaemin, and then he says, “taeyong, sorry, but we’re gonna leave.” he stands up, and says to jaemin, “i think i can help you find him.” 

without hesitating, jaemin stands up too, following jeno out of the house in a rush. taeyong watches them go, stuttering out a short, “what?” and then the two teenagers have left. 

“this is gonna seem really weird,” jeno says, “but bear with me.” 

he goes to the center of taeyong’s driveway, and holds his hands before his mouth like he’s playing an invisible flute. he blows once, a quiet high pitched hum ringing through the still morning, and the air before him seems to turn silvery. a second blow, and an image begins to shimmer in the air. 

it’s a park. wet grass, a playground, and jaemin recognizes it immediately. 

“i know where that is,” he says, already heading for his car. jeno follows behind him, hopping into the passenger seat. 

“you’re,” jeno realizes, “not even surprised?” 

“little surprised,” jaemin says. “but i didn’t sleep at all, so things aren’t really processing right now. you’re a demigod, right?” 

jeno startles at that. “you are, too?” 

“i am,” jaemin says. “child of aphrodite.” he makes a messy turn, the car sliding into the curb, and jeno grips his chair. 

“oh,” he says. “i’m apollo’s son.” he glances at jaemin out of the corner of his eye. “how do you… know renjun?” 

“it really is a long story,” jaemin says. “but i happened to run into him a few days ago, and found out he’s a demigod on a quest.” 

“seriously?” jeno mutters. 

“yeah,” jaemin says. “he’s the son of hades.” 

“oh.” 

they pull up to the park then, because it’s nearby, and also because jaemin was driving much faster than he should’ve been. 

he practically falls out of the driver’s seat, jeno following behind him. 

he runs to the park, heart beating fast and mind running marathons and -- 

“renjun!” 

the dark brown-haired boy turns with a start, from where he’d been sitting on a park bench, and his eyes widen when he sees jaemin. 

“jae--” he starts, but then jaemin tackles him into a hug, squeezing him half to death. his heart is screeching out a tune of  _ thank god _ and he feels like he could cry.

“you  _ ass _ ,” jaemin chokes out, but not even mildly upset. “i didn’t sleep at all last night,” he says, “and it’s completely your fault! is it so hard to text or call?” 

“uh.” renjun says dumbly. “my phone died.” 

jaemin finally pulls away, staring at renjun with eyes that are starting to fill with tears. 

“were you… that scared?” renjun asks quietly. 

“of course i was scared!” jaemin says. “you could’ve been dead!” 

“but,” renjun near whispers, “why would that have mattered?” 

jaemin’s heart freezes, hit by a wave of sadness, of care. 

he’s cold, he’s scared, he’s desperate, he doesn’t know what to do. all his emotions are running into each other inside his brain, freaking out, running wild, screaming. he can feel himself shaking, but he doesn’t know if it’s the fear, the adrenaline, or the cold. 

“of  _ course _ it would matter,” he says, eyes wide and fingers clenching as he tries to block some of the tremendous emotion that is pouring its way out of him. “i mean, we, like, barely know each other, but i couldn’t just not care if you died!” jaemin stares him in the eyes, a sincere and earnest look. “you’ve already become important to me, you know.” 

renjun stares into jaemin’s earnest eyes with his own hesitant ones. “but, why? how?” 

“because,” jaemin says, “i saw you.” 

renjun’s hand is clenched tight, holding on to the bench he’s seated on. 

“because you seem so sad, so lonely, but you keep acting like you aren’t.” jaemin continues. “because you’re really funny, because you’re the most sarcastic, snarky person i’ve ever met, because you felt like a friend after just a day.” 

“is it pity?” renjun asks. 

“not pity,” jaemin says immediately. “definitely not pity.” 

“but you barely know me,” renjun says. “i mean, i’m really fucked up. i run away, and i don’t know how to deal with shit. if you actually got to know me --” 

“don’t say that,” jaemin interrupts. “you don’t know. you can’t know, when you haven’t  _ let  _ me get to know you.”

renjun falls silent after that. 

“talk to me this time,” jaemin says. “i’ll listen. i won’t judge. tell me why you ran, tell me what’s up with your mom.” 

renjun bites his lip. he sends his gaze away, staring at the grass below. “i can’t,” he whispers. 

“why not?” jaemin asks. 

renjun just shakes his head, so jaemin reaches down and grabs renjun’s hand. 

“i won’t force you to,” he tells him. it seems to rid the older boy of a bit of tension, and jaemin wonders if renjun was scared that jaemin would use his powers. “but i still want to know,” jaemin continues, and renjun’s gaze sticks firmly away from jaemin’s face. “if i know, then i can actually help you, or be there for you. if i know, then you can start to rely on me.” 

renjun’s brow furrows. “i don’t need to rely on anyone else,” he says. “i never have.” 

“everyone needs to,” jaemin says. “it’s human nature, we turn to others, we don’t want to be alone. if you’ve been alone up until now, renjun, then maybe it’s scary to be with others, but that doesn’t mean you can be alone forever.” 

“i’d rather be alone.” renjun mutters. 

“really?” jaemin asks. “so if i left right now, and never came back, how would you feel?” 

he studies renjun’s expression after he asks this; it’s conflicted, clearly. jaemin frowns, absentmindedly taking a hand and brushing it against renjun’s cheek. the scandalized look on renjun’s face makes him realize his actions, but he doesn’t drop his hand regardless, because it’s really cute, and also because he feels comforted by the warmth of renjun’s cheek. 

“it’s painful, you know,” jaemin says. “when it’s clear that you’re so used to no one seeing how you feel and no one being there.” 

“why?” renjun asks softly, his gaze lost when it meets jaemin’s. 

“because i don’t want that for you.” jaemin says. “you don’t deserve that.” 

“how could you know that?” renjun asks. 

“because no one deserves that,” jaemin says. “and because if you were really a horrible person, then you wouldn’t care so much about cutting others out of your life. you wouldn’t want others there, but you wouldn’t care if they were there, because you wouldn’t care if they were harmed. right?” 

finally, jaemin lets his head leave renjun’s cheek to ruffle his hair. renjun is soaking wet, his eyes tired and his face pale. now that jaemin knows that renjun is alive, he can leave the rest to wait until renjun is safe and warm.

“we can keep talking at home, okay?” he says warmly.

renjun looks at him, confused. “home?” 

 

and so, renjun, jaemin, and jeno all end up sitting on jaemin’s bedroom floor. during the car ride to jaemin’s house, jaemin and jeno had explained how they had met, and jeno told the other two how his family often rented out their hunting cabin, and how they became close to johnny because he often went there. 

then they had arrived, and both jeno and renjun were immediately (and hilariously) put out, because jaemin’s house was just  _ huge _ . 

“oh my god,” jeno had said, “how rich  _ are  _ you?” 

it made more sense when they went inside and found a famous actor sitting at the couch. he greeted them warmly, offered them some food (and renjun some clothes, since he was absolutely soaked, and jaemin didn’t miss how surprised renjun was that jaemin’s dad didn’t question a thing). 

jaemin shared a short, wordless conversation with his father before they went upstairs, some meaningful looks that said, ‘is everything okay?’ on his father’s end, and ‘yes, i’ll explain later, thank you’ on jaemin’s. 

now, they sit with some cups of tea that jaemin’s father gave them, and an awkward silence in the air that no one knows how to break. 

“i feel like,” jeno says slowly, “maybe i shouldn’t be here for this.” 

renjun gives a short, dry laugh. “it’s fine,” he decides. “i’ll feel stupid and awkward anyway.” 

jaemin thinks maybe he understands why renjun would let jeno stay -- jaemin hardly knows the boy, yet there’s something comforting about his presence. he must be the type of person who’s easy to talk to. 

after that, renjun is silent for a while. he looks like he’s trying to form the words, but nothing is coming out. he just stares at jaemin’s carpet. 

“don’t force yourself,” jaemin assures him quietly, and he nods. 

“it’s okay,” he says. after a moment, after a hesitant swallow, renjun adds, “somehow, if i’m gonna talk about,” he frowns, “my  _ feelings _ ,” jaemin smiles, “i’d like it to be with you two. here.” 

it’s the realest, most honest and emotional thing that renjun has said, jaemin thinks, and the uncomfortable look on renjun’s face confirms that. 

“okay,” renjun says. “okay,” he repeats, letting out a little steadying breath. he locks eyes with jeno, and then with jaemin. both of them nod. “i’ll start from the beginning, i guess,” renjun says. 

and he does. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> renjun talks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im back after like three years for a backstory chapter (plus a little more at the end) !  
> sorry for the long break haha,, though more should be expected. im finally getting my writing groove back after losing it from the first two months of sophomore year so i ended up starting some original works instead of looking at this one rip. i love this story a lot though so ill keep slowly going at it :) 
> 
> (also i didnt read over this chapter so im sorry if there are any mistakes)

is it sort of weird that renjun will apparently willingly tell his shitty life story to two people who are barely not strangers?

he thinks maybe it is, as he sits on the floor of jaemin’s floor and takes a steadying breath. he’s about to tell  _ the  _ story, the one he’s never said to anyone. he’s about to bleed himself dry on jaemin’s floor, all over jaemin and jeno’s hearts. part of him feels like he can’t, like he’s not ready and he’ll never be ready, but there are patient, expecting, slightly worried expressions on jaemin and jeno’s faces, and absolutely no judgement or spite anywhere. and it’s true -- if he’s going to tell anyone, he’s going to tell them. 

and, anyway, he doesn’t want jaemin showing up at his doorstep and meeting his mom again, right? or god forbid jeno meets her, or both of them go together. 

it’s not really that fantastical of a story. there’s not a lot that feels like it has to be said. there are just things that rest in renjun’s heart, shitty little things that irritate him. 

there’s his father. his father is easy to talk about, because he’s just an idiot. hades has never been able to do shit; maybe that’s why he’s ended up as the least favorite big three. people think hades is big or scary or cruel; he’s just stupid or incapable. he’s not cruel, like some gods, but he’s useless and he needs other people to do everything for him. 

renjun doesn’t really hate hades. he just thinks that hades is an idiot and hopeless. all hades really is to renjun is this big fuck up who ended up leading to renjun’s birth. 

but there’s still renjun’s mom. and there’s a lot he could say about his mom, but not a lot that needs to be said. she’s just a pathological liar who sleeps around with the door open and sometimes pretends she doesn’t have a son. she’s a neglectful mother who tells the police that her son is a liar when he calls them, the kind of woman who will disappear for a year and come back like nothing happened, or uses her connections to keep everything in life going her way. she doesn’t care about renjun, doesn’t think about him. she’ll go as far as to tell renjun that, if he’s unhappy, he should just run away from home, instead of causing trouble for her. 

that’s all she really wants. just to be free of trouble. everyone else can do whatever they want, live their own lives, as long as it doesn’t bother her. she’ll live whatever life she wants, she’ll lie to make things fine, and she doesn’t care about taking care of anyone or anything. 

once upon a time, renjun thought maybe he could get her to praise him. he was a child, and he would look up hopefully with his winning art or his a on a test, and think, “maybe this time she’ll say something nice”. but she never did, and he eventually learned. (learned that he doesn’t need that -- doesn’t need the hurt that comes when he doesn’t get it. learned he’ll do everything by himself, because no one else will ever be there for him.) 

renjun doesn’t mention that little bit, because jaemin and jeno already have shocked, worried looks in their eyes, and it’s making him feel a little suffocated. 

but if renjun was saying all of that, if he was saying everything on his mind, he’d admit that he’s only slightly less than too fucked up thanks to hades. even if he’s a shit god, and a shit father, he was the only one who did anything for renjun. when it was possible, hades visited renjun through dreams, or even brought renjun to the underworld every now and then. he would teach renjun the things renjun’s mother skipped out on, and try to take care of him as best as he could. every now and then, renjun would even find a meal in the fridge that he knew could only have been a gift from his father. hades never goes past the boundaries of a god interfering with the human world, but he’s done enough to take care of renjun. once or twice, persephone even (irritated and looking at renjun like she hated him) helped renjun out. 

“so, yeah.” renjun says. “that’s it.” 

jaemin has this look on his face, a look like he cares, like he’s sorry, and renjun doesn’t know how to handle those sorts of expressions, so he sticks his gaze onto the carpet of jaemin’s room and studies every bit of fuzz that peeks out.

“you never left,” are the words that come from jeno’s mouth. renjun looks up, and the serene eyes that meet his gaze are thoughtful, wondering. 

“i tried,” renjun admits. “called child’s services -- she just made up her bullshit lies and sent them away.” 

“but you never… ran away.” jeno says, and renjun doesn’t know how to respond, so he shrugs. it’s true, after all. “um, this is insensitive, i guess,” jeno says, “and i barely even know you, really, but uh… did you  _ want  _ to run away?” 

renjun wants to say, ‘of course i wanted to run away, who would want to stay in that sort of scenario?’, but it’s hard to say such words to such sincere eyes, especially when he’s not so sure that’s everything. jeno is right, after all -- renjun’s questioned it himself. why he doesn’t just walk away; take her advice and leave. maybe the horrifying truth was that having nowhere to go scared renjun more than hating where he did go every day. 

“it’s hard, i think, to leave even an abusive situation, if you’re all on your own,” jeno says, a little slowly, like he’s thinking carefully on his words. “but, um… i don’t know how meaningful it is coming from someone who’s nearly a stranger, but… you don’t have to be all alone. i would -- we would,” he says, looking at jaemin, “want to help you anyway we could.” 

jaemin nods seriously, and renjun is left staring into such honest, sincere eyes. 

he thinks on it -- on his life, on these two boys here. on how little he knows them, on how pained his heart has always been. he thinks on it, thinks seriously, thinks without that veil of denial that he’s been using to protect himself, but also to hurt himself. 

he’s always wanted to be saved. he knows that’s the truth. he hated the idea of being a hero, because all he wanted was to have a hero for himself, someone who would pull him out of this situation and make him happy. someone who would tell him he’s loved, that he’s not alone, that things will get better. someone who is kind, even if they don’t need to be kind, even if maybe renjun doesn’t deserve that kindness. 

these two boys are almost strangers, but renjun knows, just looking at their eyes, that they would be his hero. all he had to do was ask. 

renjun swallows carefully, meets jeno’s honest gaze, and then jaemin’s. 

“i’d like that,” he says. 

 

afterwards, there’s a lot that maybe should be said and done, but instead the three of them waste time playing games for a while. it’s what they need, renjun thinks -- a break, after everything serious. he definitely needs it, at least. it’s a strange feeling that he hasn’t really ever had, to be doing something so simple with other people (friends, he supposes) in a warm home where his stupid, messed up heart is accepted.  

they let the hours pass by for a while, lazing around and happy, and it’s only after they’ve eaten lunch that they finally get around to doing the things they should do. 

the first thing is to talk even more. they talk a bit about each of them, and about renjun’s quest. and then they talk about how to help renjun, which gets renjun feeling like he wants to find a hole and hide in it forever. jaemin and jeno do all the talking at that part. 

jaemin offers to let renjun stay at his house, since there’s more than enough space there for another person. mr. na seems more than happy enough to go along with that, too. they talk about calling child services -- to which renjun immediately declines, because not only has he tried that on his own, but it’s pointless. somehow, he doesn’t even care for vengeance on his mother. he just wants her to disappear, to leave his life forever. 

(he knows, even if he runs away and lives with jaemin forever, the hold she has on him will never disappear.) 

they even talk about paying for renjun’s  _ school, _ __and that’s when renjun has to cut things off because he’s gotten that taken care of, it’s fine. jaemin gives him this little frown when he says that, like anything remotely like renjun taking care of things alone makes him upset, but renjun decides to pretend he didn’t see it.

after that, they call mark over. renjun apologizes, albeit quite awkwardly, but mark is just a sunny smile as he tells renjun that it’s okay, that he was worried, that he’s glad that renjun is doing alright. 

renjun thinks there is suddenly too much kindness in his life, that he doesn’t deserve. 

after mark and jeno get acquainted, they get to talking about renjun’s quest some more. they tell mark what he’s missed, so that everyone’s officially all caught up. 

“what do you think is up with that donghyuck kid, though?” mark wonders. “do you think we could find him again? i mean, he probably knows something.” 

“i don’t think he’d help us,” renjun says. 

“unless you know, like, some spell that forces people to,” jaemin suggests, mostly as a joke, but mark shakes his head. 

“i don’t do that sort of thing,” mark says. jaemin makes a questioning face, and he continues with, “that’s kind of a forbidden type of spell. things that manipulate and control other human beings. they steal a bit of your soul when you use them, and eventually will kill you. just using one makes you run into a lot of misfortune. only gods -- so, only my mom, essentially -- can use that kind of spell. she’s a goddess, so, like, she can do whatever she wants.” 

jaemin hums. “that’s kinda cool,” he admits. 

“anyway,” jeno interjects, it might be good to keep an eye out for him, at least. he doesn’t seem like an ally, right? so he might try to interfere or something.” 

“we can ask taeyong to do that,” jaemin surmises. “i’m sure he won’t mind.” 

renjun makes a face. “i did, sort of… i don’t know,” he sighs. “i kind of bothered him, i guess,” renjun admits. 

jaemin shrugs easily. “it’ll be alright,” he says. “taeyong’s only worry is how he can help people; that’s why he’s a police officer.” 

that makes renjun feel sort of shitty, somehow, but jaemin shoots him this meaningful sort of smile, and he pushes it aside. 

“well,” mark says, “what should we do next? i can perform a searching spell again.” 

all three of them look to renjun, as if he’s apparently now their leader, even though they all know how absolutely fucked up he is. 

there’s a few options, renjun supposes. they can look for donghyuck, which renjun really doesn’t want to do. they can have mark use his spell again, and go on another hunt. 

or, renjun thinks, they can do the one thing so utterly simply, and frankly ludicrous, that it has never and will never fail any demigod, and that has certainly never failed renjun. 

“let’s leave it up to fate.” renjun says. 

“huh?” jaemin asks, looking at him confused. 

renjun reaches into his pocket to pull out his wallet and begins to fish through it for a penny. 

“little trick i learned some time ago,” renjun says as he pulls out a penny from his wallet. “demigods have especially bad, or at least troublesome fate in the first place, so nothing works like a charm more than letting fate just come to us. but sometimes she doesn’t quite realize it’s her time to shine -- she’s a busy concept, you know. so we do something that wakes her up.” he flourishes the penny before their faces. “we make a bet.” 

“a bet?” jeno asks. “that’s it?” 

renjun nods. “for the quests i’ve had before, something simple has worked. but for one like this, i’ll need something big.” there’s a glint in his eyes, like he’s playing with fire, and he knows, and he doesn’t really mind. it scares the others a little, but it’s impossible to look away, too. “something a little bit dangerous,” he says. 

the others stare at him, maybe even captivated. this is an art he knows well, but that they have never dipped their toes into. 

“heads,” renjun says, “and johnny shows up here tomorrow, fights me, and i beat him.” renjun flips the coin, and it flies into the air, almost slowly. “tails,” renjun says calmly, “and johnny kills me.” 

there’s a catch in the others’ breaths. mark’s eyes are caught on the coin, watching the way it arcs and spins in the air, a fluttering leaf of color like gold, stilling in the air. jeno’s eyes are stuck watching renjun’s hand, still half in the position in which he flipped the coin, half reaching out to catch the coin. and jaemin’s eyes, they’re on renjun’s face, looking into renjun’s eyes, as if he’s looking for an answer to an unasked question, as if he’s looking for fate herself. 

the coin lands, the way fate likes to land, on its side, neither heads or tails. it spins for a moment, then tumbles off of renjun’s hand, spilling down towards the ground. 

it must be because he was the one watching the coin, but mark is the one who manages to grab the coin before it hits the ground. his fist is closed around it, hiding from view whether it’s heads or tails. 

“what is it?” jeno asks carefully, quietly. 

slowly, mark opens his hand. 

“heads.” 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> johnny's here ! and some things with mark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! didnt keep yall waiting too long this time haha  
> in story unrelated news its snowing today?? in late april?? im so mad  
> anyways the plot is slowly unfolding so,, hope that's fun :)

even laying there at night, now in his own home and thinking about what had happened that day, mark can feel the slightest imprint of the coin in his hand. it was a simple bet, the flip of a coin that had never meant all that much before, but mark knows that when renjun flipped that coin, he was betting with fate. and he knows that renjun won, that renjun knew he would win, that he always expects to win. and it’s a terrifying feeling, but also an almost giddy feeling, like mark wants to run on with that confident feeling of renjun’s and just keep on going. 

when renjun flipped the coin, there was electricity in the air. some sort of faint buzzing, something hard to see, but mark knows that buzz. he knows magic, knows it like the back of his hand. he had never before thought that luck could be magic, but maybe that was foolish of him. now, having seen renjun, he thinks maybe luck is one of the greatest forms of magic there is. 

but renjun had more than that, mark knows; renjun had the bravery, the audacity, really, to fight fate with his luck, and that’s something few people share in common with him, surely. 

mark remembers a younger himself, messy black hair and confused eyes, six years old and just adopted two days ago, learning that the day after he’d been adopted, his orphanage had burned down. he remembered his mother’s eyes -- his real mother, the first and only time he ever met her. unloving, but not hateful, and just simply indifferent, to every little bit of this human life before her. 

there was one thing she had said, that mark had always thought about, but never thought he would understand. 

_ “you’ve got that stupid demigod look about you. only six years old, but you’d go run back to that orphanage and save everyone if you could, wouldn’t you? i see a lot of you guys, weak human lives that think they’re so much because they’ve got a bit of godly power in them. a lot of demigods go out without having saved a thing, more than you’d even know. but you’re mine, i suppose. the only out there that’s mine. so maybe you’ll do it. luck’s an old friend of mine, and it looks like she likes you. the only question is…”  _

and her eyes had been something a little different in that moment, just a little more meaningful, looking at mark like he really was there, like she really saw him. that was the only time that hecate ever looked at mark like that. mark still doesn’t really know what those eyes were saying, or what those words meant, but he thinks it might be why he felt something in that moment, something like magic. 

_ “will you be willing to take her hand?”  _

 

mark awakes the next day, earlier than he usually does. it’s barely past five am, the sun not even out yet, but mark doesn’t even have to take a moment to wonder why he’s woken up. it’s like he can feel it in his blood, running fast, ready for something to happen. 

he changes out of his pajamas at record speed, waters his plants (it’s only right to do it every morning, no matter what disasters might be occurring), and throws on a jacket. he doesn’t always trust himself to drive in the early hours of the day, but he does it today, making his way to jaemin’s house as quickly as he can. 

the entire house, he finds, is wrapped inside moving, living shadows. mark stumbles out of his car door, ready to cast a spell, or even just throw himself at the weird, shadowy-haired man standing in front of the home. 

there’s no need. 

the shadows expand, and then close in, and then unfurl themselves in a dramatic fashion. the door opens with a click, loud in the deathly silence of the world at five a.m. 

renjun walks out, all fussy bedhead and jaemin’s pajama pants (they’re big on him), and a baggy t shirt. he looks like some normal teenage kid whose just gotten out of bed. 

his eyes, though -- they look like death. 

jaemin had come outside with renjun, and he closes the door behind the two of them. he stays there, leaning against it, watching as renjun walks forward. renjun acknowledges mark with a simple glance, not even seeming all that surprised that the older boy is there. and then he focuses his gaze on the shadowy man -- johnny. 

“i knew you were coming,” renjun says, “but did you have to choose five am of all fucking times to show up? i’m an insomniac enough as it is, asshat.” 

johnny doesn’t look like he processes a thing renjun says. instead, he sends out his shadows, which have movements like humans that seem like they want to grab renjun and wrap him up into a little shadow taco of death. 

renjun whips his hand out and it practically slashes through the shadows, letting them fall to the ground around him like confetti. 

“you’re fighting me with shadows?” renjun asks. “that’s literally my own weapon, dumbass.” 

mark would probably laugh at renjun’s words, but there’s something about his easy going, uncaring attitude, something about the way he faces a situation where he could die without any worry. sure, the coin flip said he would win, but even so. this nonchalant, honestly arrogant attitude doesn’t come from that, mark’s sure. 

“i’ll cut this short,” renjun says, and his voice is just a little bit cold. “ _ spirits, wake up _ ,” he orders, and the air almost shimmers a little.  _ “it’s time to fuck shit up.”  _

__

the ground rumbles with the force of the ghosts that renjun calls. he raises a hand up into the air in one slow, smooth, calculated movement. and following the rise of his arm comes an army of silver, wispy ghosts, smashing out of the ground like a geyser. they rush up, and then forward, surrounding and swarming johnny. they tunnel into his mouth, a grotesque scene that mark can’t tear his eyes from; they hold him down, wrapping around him the way a snake wraps around its prey. 

__

when they finish, soaking themselves back into the ground, johnny falls to his knees, and then down onto his stomach, unconscious. 

__

“damn,” mark can’t help but whisper out. 

__

renjun is calm as could be when he approaches johnny. and yet there’s something there too, like the slightest shake of his hands, like the sheen of goosebumps on his skin. 

__

and then there are footsteps. 

__

in the chaos of renjun’s ghosts, neither he nor mark had noticed the boy that walked down the street, but they see him now. his red hair is a sharp bit of color in the gray monochrome of the world. 

__

“that was harsh, son of hades,” donghyuck says, stopping not far from where renjun and johnny are. 

__

“what do you want, donghyuck?” renjun asks, leveling the boy an uninterested look. 

__

“so you know my name now,” donghyuck says. “i’m just here to pick up my friend. so if you could be ever so kind…” 

__

“i’m taking this guy back to tartarus,” renjun says. “so unless you were planning on heading down there with him, it’s not happening.” 

__

“that’s what i figured,” donghyuck says. “shall i fight you for him, then?” 

__

renjun just shrugs. “if you want to.” 

__

watching the scene, their cold gazes as they stare at each other, mark feels something in his heart. his heart’s never lied to him, so he listens to it this time too. 

__

“wait,” he says. 

__

both of them look towards him, renjun confused, donghyuck surprised. 

__

“who are you?” donghyuck asks, something flickering in his eyes that mark doesn’t notice. at the same time, renjun asks, “what is it?” 

__

“um,” mark says. “i’m mark,” he tells donghyuck, “and, um… i don’t know, really," he tells renjun. "i just don’t think you two need to fight right now.” 

__

“did you forget the entire point of this quest?” renjun asks. “we need to take johnny to tartarus. if this guy wants to stop us, then he’s an enemy.” 

__

mark purses his lips, unsatisfied. 

__

“mark,” renjun sighs, sounding annoyed, “what do you expect me to do? i’m not gonna play ‘buddy-buddy’ with every demigod we meet.” 

__

“i know,” mark shoots back. “that’s not what i meant.” 

__

“then what?” renjun asks, and mark doesn’t really have a response. 

__

“i just,” he sighs. “it feels wrong.” 

__

renjun furrows his brow in confusion. “what?” 

__

“it feels like you two shouldn’t fight,” mark tells him. 

__

“you want me to not fight him,” renjun says, “because it feels  _ wrong?”  _

____

mark almost doesn’t nod, because renjun looks so exasperated, but it is true in the end, so he does. 

____

renjun huffs, but at the same time, donghyuck snorts, and mark looks over to the red-haired boy in surprise. 

____

“out of curiosity, what would you have us do?” donghyuck asks. “if fighting is wrong, what would be right?” 

____

mark stops to think about that. he wonders what needs to happen here, what his heart would approve of. for some reason, though, all he can conjure up is that image of his mother, and the look in her eyes. he remembers her words, remembers what she thought of demigods. 

____

she was right; mark would’ve gone back in an instant. even six years old, he would’ve raced to his orphanage to save everyone. and she was probably right, too, that there are a lot of demigods who never actually get to do a thing in the world. 

____

and she was right about one other thing. mark was the only demigod, the only one in the entire world, that was hers. 

____

“renjun,” mark says, “what would make your dad proud?” 

____

“huh?” renjun asks. “i don’t know, don’t really care.” 

____

“but,” mark says. “but think about it anyway. what would it be?” 

____

renjun frowns, but gives it thought. he hangs his head back a moment, breathes out into the stillness of the air, feelings and thoughts moving in his eyes that mark could only watch. “i guess he’d be proud,” renjun says quietly, “if i was a hero.” 

____

“right?” mark asks, smiling a little. “my mom, i never really thought about it, cause she never seemed like she’d be proud of a single thing i did. but you know what? i think she’d be proud if i were a hero, too. if i were a really good one that did something and proved themselves and didn’t disappear.” 

____

“what’s your point?” renjun asks. 

____

“the thing that would be right,” mark says, and renjun already looks unhappy (more so than before). “i think it would be if we made our parents proud.” 

____

“i don’t care about making hades proud,” renjun says. “he’s a dumbass, useless father.” 

____

“i know,” mark says simply. “but at the very least, he loves you. that’s more than some parents.” mark says, and renjun actually seems to flinch. 

____

he's silent for a long moment, and then he says, "fine." it's a little bit angry, with something heavy underneath it, and mark is kind of scared he might be getting on renjun's bad side, but he feels like this had to be done.  “i don’t think _ failing  _ your quest is how you prove yourself a hero, but we’ll save a life today, just to make you feel a bit better about yourself, huh?” 

____

“okay,” mark says, easily, simply. he could say more, but he thinks maybe it’s easiest for renjun, right now, to leave it at that. they can work on the rest later. 

____

donghyuck is eyeing mark, curiosity in his eyes, and a little bit of something else, too. renjun shoots both mark and donghyuck a glare, before hefting johnny up like the man isn’t six feet tall. he drags johnny back into jaemin’s house, and mark makes eye contact with donghyuck once before turning to follow renjun in. 

____

jaemin stands at the door until they’re all inside his house, and when mark passes him, they share a little smile, something like ‘renjun is such a handful’, and maybe something like gratitude on jaemin’s part, too. 

____

 

____

“i have a question.” 

____

they’re all seated in the living room floor -- johnny, still unconscious, takes up an entire couch, and renjun is seated on another with his legs crossed and an irritated expression on his face. jaemin and jeno, who's been called over, are sitting next to him, because there is no way mark is going to do that after pissing him off, and there is no way anyone is going to let donghyuck do that either. he and mark have taken seats on the floor instead. 

____

“yeah?” donghyuck responds, looking at mark. 

____

“why are you trying to save johnny?” 

____

“because he’s my friend.” donghyuck responds simply. 

____

“oh, right,” mark says. “but i mean, like… how are you friends, i guess?” 

____

donghyuck shrugs. he chews on his cheek absentmindedly and stares at mark, like he’s trying to decide on which answer to give him -- mark wonders if he’s contemplating lying or telling the truth. 

____

“it’s a long story,” donghyuck decides to say. “and i wouldn’t object to telling you, at least,” his eyes pass across renjun sitting on the couch, “but there are some other people here that i’d rather not say it to.” 

____

mark nods, “okay,” and leaves it at that. renjun seems to roll his eyes, and mark ignores it. 

____

“hey,” jaemin speaks up, “can i ask who your godly parent is?” 

____

donghyuck cracks a little smirk, something rather cocky that irritates mark just a little bit. “eris,” he says, “goddess of chaos and strife.” 

____

renjun scoffs. “fitting,” he mutters, and that smug smile on donghyuck’s face seems to proudly agree. 

____

jaemin just says, “so she’s not one of the major ones. is that why she’s okay with you going against the quest?” 

____

“i mean,” donghyuck says, “she accepts any of my decisions. but sort of yeah, i guess. she can’t openly go against the big three, but it’s not like she agrees with them.” 

____

“hey, donghyuck,” mark says, and donghyuck looks back to him with a questioning look. “johnny’s your friend, right? so... why was he locked up in tartarus?” 

____

donghyuck huffs a sigh. “cause zeus wanted a weapon of war.” 

____

mark’s eyebrows raise. “a weapon?” he echoes. 

____

“you act so surprised,” donghyuck comments. “basically, they did a bunch of experiments on johnny, and fucked him up, and then he went psychotic from it, so they locked him up and ignored their mistakes.” 

____

“oh,” mark breathes out quietly. 

____

donghyuck gives him a somewhat wry, but sympathetic smile and says, “did you think a quest from the gods must’ve been a heroic mission? that it would undoubtedly be the right thing?” 

____

“no,” mark answers honestly, “but i didn’t think… they’d do that.” 

____

donghyuck shrugs. “good for you, i guess. either way, i’m not giving johnny back to the gods.” 

____

“if we’re being honest, though, he’s dangerous isn’t he?” renjun says, eyes staring at donghyuck with a dull sort of expression. “he may be your friend, but does that mean you can just take him away? it’s not like you could save him, right? so would that really be the right thing?” 

____

donghyuck’s jaw clenches, just for a moment, but he doesn’t do a thing. just regards renjun for a moment, silent, before finally saying, “i’d give him a hell of a better chance than the gods would. and, frankly, i don’t care if it’s not the right thing -- it’s what i want to do, what i feel i need to do. and if you try to get in my way, then you’re my enemy. neither of us are doing this because we think it’s the right thing anyway, right? at least i’ve got some care for the situation, unlike you, who just wants to sit around on your ass and mope about gods and quests. you don’t even care about this anyway, right? you don’t care about the lives you save or the ones you take, you’ll fight anyone if they’re annoying, and -” 

____

renjun cuts donghyuck off by standing up, anger burning bright, but donghyuck hasn’t lost the battle, his steely eyes meeting renjun’s own spiteful gaze. 

____

jeno, so calmly, clears his throat. “sit down, renjun,” he says. with a soft look, he meets renjun’s gaze when the angry death boy turns around, and says, “please.” it’s not just a request to sit down, mark thinks. 

____

renjun blinks at jeno, the anger gone in his moment of surprise at jeno’s words. jeno gives him a calm look, steady and composed, and renjun, sort of surprisingly, listens, taking a seat back on the couch. 

____

“no one here,” jeno continues, “could actually say with certainty what the so-called right decision would be. none of us even have all the facts, clearly. we don’t know if there’s a way to save johnny, we don’t know if there’s a better way to end this quest. we don’t know why all of the beings were locked up -- or so i presume you don’t,” he adds to donghyuck, who shakes his head in confirmation, “and we don’t ever know what’s going on in the gods’ minds. it’s all fun and easy to just go with your heart, and if that’s what you’re going to do, okay, but i for one think we should figure things out first.” 

____

“by doing what?” renjun asks. 

____

“finding out the truth, obviously,” jeno says. “we figure out if there’s a way to save johnny, and if there is, we do. as for the other two -- we’ll look into that too, i guess, but we might not be able to make a decision until we’ve found them.” 

____

“well, i have some guys working on that end,” donghyuck casually shoots out, and jeno gives him a questioning look. “just some demigod friends,” he says. “i asked them to look into the child of zeus.” 

____

jeno accepts that knowledge for now with a nod. 

____

“so, what are you going to do?” jaemin asks donghyuck. “even if you don’t want to work with us, i think we’ll be keeping johnny here, so…” 

____

“well,” donghyuck says with a sighing hum, “i do think it would be easier to save johnny with you guys.” 

____

“really?” jaemin asks. 

____

“yeah.” donghyuck says. “or, not quite.” he adds. “i mean,” he tells their confused expressions, eyes falling to mark, “i have a feeling it would probably be easier with  _ you.”  _

__

____

__


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a weird spell and, like, other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! there's so much going on right now guys like,, june is crazy  
> dnyl dropped (an amazing song omg), and it literally validated my chenle son of poseidon choice !! donghyuck's birthday was my last day of school (and for me, the day dnyl dropped too), and today's taeil's birthday !! so happy birthday to him  
> in other news, i'm so happy about yg leaving!! and dan howell coming out; all my love and support for that wonderful gay man  
> this is barely story-related stuff i'm sorry y'all but this month has been wildin'  
> anyway, i hope this new chapter is fun for you guys!! i'm gonna try to update soon because next chapter?? like one of my favorites ever 
> 
> (also if the spell in this chapter confuses you, i'm really sorry, i write weird magic rip)  
> (second also, for anyone who's a returning reader, i made some changes to the previous chapter, because my ass full forgot that mark doesn't really know anything abt renjun's mom situation, which he had kinda brought up so... took that out whoops)

he’s special. 

donghyuck knows he’s special, and it’s been making his heart beat awkwardly fast and his mind run at a thousand miles per hour ever since he met eyes with the boy named mark lee. 

there’s a film over donghyuck’s vision, a film of shadows that he has always known. people can be clear of shadows in their heart, but there is almost always some sort of chaos in their life somewhere. and if there is no shadow in their life, there can still be shadows over their heart. someone without shadows is very rare, and they will soon enough be covered by the shadows of the world. 

but mark lee -- he isn’t just free of shadows. the shadows seem to actively avoid him. it’s like he is so clean they can’t bear to touch him. it makes no sense; it can’t be possible. mark is literally feet away from huang renjun, who has shadows for miles. the boy is so covered donghyuck can barely tell he’s human. and yet there is mark, who has chosen to involve himself in renjun’s messy life, who is a part of this quest, and who is completely devoid of shadows. 

there has to be something to it; donghyuck, even with all that he has studied and learned, isn’t sure what yet -- his power from eris is something very unknown, and even eris can’t always help to explain things. but donghyuck has a feeling -- and his instincts are always good -- that mark’s shadow situation, or lack thereof, can maybe save johnny, who has been so taken in by shadows. 

or maybe donghyuck just wants to follow his gay heart and mark is really pretty -- either way is fine, really. 

mark starts to respond to donghyuck, probably to ask him what he means when he says it would be easier with mark, but no words come out because, instead, he’s interrupted by a swarm of shadows flooding over him.

in an instant, everyone has stood up, the words to summon ghosts on the tip of renjun’s tongue, but donghyuck holds an arm out. he snaps his fingers, and the half-dazed but now awake johnny, who had just sent out his shadows, goes rigid. 

nothing easier to control, donghyuck thinks, than half-assed chaos. 

“rest your shadows, buddy,” donghyuck tells johnny softly. “we’ll be chaotic later, okay?” 

johnny’s shadows recede, mark choking as he tries to regain his breath. 

“my hold won’t last for long,” donghyuck tells mark, kneeling down beside him and in front of johnny. “when it fades, he’ll be angry again.” 

“your hold?” mark chokes out. “what did you do?” 

“johnny, right now, is covered in chaos shadows,” donghyuck says. “usually, my power is used to make things even more chaotic, but i can kinda use it to reel in chaos too, which is basically what i did to him. so while we’ve got time, tell me, mark, do you think there’s anything you could do?” 

“something i could do?” mark echoes, eyes wide. 

“to save him,” donghyuck replies, looking mark in the eyes. “do you think you could?” 

“i don’t -- i don’t know how,” mark says. “i don’t even know why you think i could.” 

“because you’re the opposite of him,” donghyuck tells him. “you’re completely clear of shadows.” 

mark stares into donghyuck’s eyes, and donghyuck does his best to convey every bit of certainty and sincerity he has, which is something he doesn’t do often. 

“the -- there’s a spell,” mark says. “it’s, uh, i don’t really know, um, i learned it recently, i --” 

“just give it a try,” donghyuck tells him. “it’s worth a shot.” 

mark scooches to the side, donghyuck moving to make space for him, and mark places one hand over his eyes, and his other over johnny’s. he closes his eyes, or at least donghyuck imagines he does, and whispers something donghyuck can’t quite make out. his fingers seem to tremble ever so slightly, and then -- 

mark falls forward, and then his body seems to catch itself like someone levitating in a magician’s act, re-righting itself and then blinking at donghyuck with lost, half-dazed, confused eyes. 

“wait, did you --” 

donghyuck stutters out, staring in absolute shock at the eyes looking back at his. literally, they are mark’s, but donghyuck’s not so sure that’s who he’s making eye contact with. 

“it’s a weird spell,” says mark’s voice, from his own body, a little awkward and shaky and maybe even scared, donghyuck thinks. “because, um, the only thing it switches is our eyesight, but i thought maybe, i dunno, if he can see through my eyes - i mean, you said we were the opposite, and I was shadowless, so like, maybe -- maybe if he sees without being caught up in his own shadows, it’ll be easier…” 

“so you’re in your own body right now,” jeno says, “but looking through johnny’s eyes?” 

mark’s head nods. 

“it’s an incredibly weird feeling,” he informs them. 

mark’s eyes are still staring at donghyuck, and his breath catches at the awareness he thinks is beginning to see in them. 

“johnny?” he asks. there’s some concern for mark in his mind, a certainty that if they hold this for too long, his shadowless heart may be tainted, but that’s all the more reason to do as much with it as they can. “buddy, you there?” 

mark’s dull eyes blink at him, and for a second donghyuck fears johnny will never say a thing, but then a rough cough escapes johnny’s mouth and he says, voice gruff and coarse, “bitch, what the fuck.” 

“bitch!” donghyuck echoes happily, almost throwing his arms around johnny before remembering that johnny’s body and eyesight don’t correspond, and that’s just too weird, so he refrains from it. 

“oh,” jaemin says, “it worked?” 

“hyuckie,” johnny tells donghyuck in a serious voice, coughing lightly, “you can’t save me.” 

donghyuck’s blood freezes. 

“whatever thing it is you’ve done here, it won’t last, you know it.” johnny says. “and i’m grateful you’re trying to save me, and i’m sorry, but you can’t. he’s too strong, and you’ll --” 

“who’s too strong?” donghyuck interrupts. 

mark’s eyes, johnny’s vision, they’re sorrowful as they look at donghyuck. “you know who.” 

“and you know i’ll fucking fight him,” donghyuck responds, “i don’t care if he’s god of the sky or the biggest of the big three, i will --” 

“and you’ll  _ die, _ hyuckie, please,” johnny begs, “listen to me. you can’t. let me go -- take me back to tartarus. my mind’s not my own anymore, so i’ll barely feel the pain, anyway; it’ll be okay.” 

“ _ i  _ won’t be okay!” donghyuck argues, gritting his teeth at the burn of tears that are trying to bleed into his eyes. “i won’t let that happen, johnny, i don’t care if it’s selfish of me!” 

“hyuck,” johnny says sadly. “if you cling to someone who isn’t here anymore, you’ll only get more hurt. i don’t want to be the one who hurts you.” he coughs again, his eyes starting to become dull, and donghyuck knows he’s losing him. 

“you’re not gone yet.” 

johnny blinks over to jeno, who has shifted to cut the air that has surrounded donghyuck and johnny, and only those two. the others have been silent, let donghyuck and johnny have their important talk, one the rest couldn’t completely understand, but jeno leaves the couch to kneel in front of mark’s body like donghyuck is doing. johnny stares at him, seeming to finally realize that anyone other than donghyuck had ever been in the room at all. 

“jeno?” he asks softly, faint recognition in his eyes for the boy. 

“hey, johnny,” jeno replies, the gentlest bits of a small smile on his face. “listen to me, okay?” he asks, and johnny nods. “no one ever knows what’s going to happen until something does,” jeno says. “you don’t know that no one will ever be capable of saving you. if there was an option to be saved, you would want that right?” 

“but there --” 

“if there was,” jeno interrupts. “just say, if there was.” 

johnny hesitates. “i would,” he says. 

jeno nods firmly. “there might not be any reason we necessarily have to fight zeus.” 

“we?” renjun asks, and jeno hushes him, holding a finger out behind him to signal his silence, and renjun raises his eyebrows. 

“i don’t know too much when it comes to demigods,” jeno says, “and honestly i’m not even sure i have a right to be in this room right now. but if there is one thing i know, it’s medicine; that kinda thing is in my blood. my dad told me something once -- he said that there’s no one on earth who can’t be saved. we can try -- try to save you. wouldn’t it be too much to give up on that now?” 

johnny’s vision is fading for sure, johnny’s body on the couch starting to lean forward with exhaustion. 

“you’ve always been a,” johnny coughs, his words coming out slowly and strained, “sweet kid, jeno. you and hyuck, both. if you’re trying so hard to save me,” he says, “can’t quite say no.” with a last cough, johnny falls forwards entirely, whereas mark’s body snaps backward, full awareness in his eyes. 

mark catches johnny before the man falls on him, maneuvering him back into a lying position on the couch. 

“i doubt i can do that again soon,” mark quietly speaks up, glancing at donghyuck. his hands, donghyuck notes, are shaking. 

donghyuck reaches forward to grab mark’s hand, placing his other hand on mark’s forehead. it’s hot. 

“sorry about that,” donghyuck says. “i really needed it. thank you.” 

mark gives him an awkward smile. “don’t worry,” he says. 

“do you want some advil?” jaemin asks. 

mark nods, “some water too, please.” he says. jaemin nods and takes him out of the room. 

donghyuck, renjun, and jeno all exchange glances. 

“one week,” renjun says, though he still looks a little displeased. “if you can’t find out a way to save him by then, i’m taking him to tartarus. we can’t have such a dangerous liability around for so long.” 

“i’ll help you,” donghyuck tells jeno, who nods. 

together, they quietly discuss what they may be able to do for johnny. 

“do you really think we can save him without fighting zeus?” donghyuck asks. 

jeno bites his lip, frowning. “i, uh…” 

“you don’t right?” donghyuck asks. if he’s honest, he’d expected as much. 

“if we just told johnny we’d fight zeus, i’m sure he wouldn’t be happy with that, and if it’s possible not to, then that’s the choice i want to make but…” jeno trails off. 

“we probably will have to, huh?” donghyuck says. “saving johnny means challenging zeus, after all.” 

jeno nods sheepishly. 

“well, that’s alright,” donghyuck says. “it was my plan from the beginning, anyway,” he adds. “just hope renjun doesn’t blow his shit at me if he hears about it.” 

jeno laughs at that. “you two fight too much,” he says. 

donghyuck shrugs, as if to say, ‘it’s not my fault’. 

and it’s not as if donghyuck doesn’t somewhat understand renjun, anyway. the other demigod may get on donghyuck’s nerves, but donghyuck knows what those shadows covering renjun mean. they mean that he’s suffered -- that he’s  _ suffering _ \-- that he’s lived through a lot. 

but that doesn’t mean donghyuck has to get along with him, either. 

mark and jaemin come back into the room then, and mark, upon hearing jeno and donghyuck talking about johnny, immediately offers to help as much as he can. 

“thank you,” jeno says. “you managed to get him sane for a while, at least. the magic you have control over will probably be really helpful.” 

mark smiles kindly -- he seems to do that a lot, donghyuck notices -- and for a moment the air around them almost seems peaceful. 

donghyuck is already prepared for something to happen the moment he feels that, because if there’s something someone living the life of a chaos child would know, it’s that peace never lasts for long. 

in fact, the ringing of his phone is much less disruptive than anything donghyuck might’ve expected. even when he picks up to this: 

_ “oh my god donghyuck i messed up oh my god -- oh my god what is that! how can things like this be real oh my god?” _

chenle’s high pitched squeal of terror cuts through donghyuck’s ear, and he winces. 

“what’s going on?” he asks. 

"is that a spider?”  chenle whines instead, his voice so high donghyuck thinks he’s going to break donghyuck’s phone.  _ "oh no oh my god, no don’t come near me, don’t do that --”  _

donghyuck hears jisung’s voice somewhere in the background, something about,  _ “calm down," _ and,  _ “can you just tell him what’s going on?" _ and finally, the phone just gets passed to the other boy. 

_ "okay so,”  _

donghyuck prepares himself, 

_ “we were looking for that ten guy? and chenle was like, he might be looking for johnny, so let’s wander around near places johnny’s likely to go, too, right? and so we do that for a while, and you know that forest with the hunting cabin? it goes on for a long time, like a real long time, and we thought that was weird ‘cause, like, google maps didn’t think it was supposed to go on for so long. so we tried to find the end of it, and, uh, there was this cave.”  _

“don’t tell me you went inside the cave.” donghyuck deadpans. as jisung has been talking, there have been various noises -- slamming sounds, some weird wiry electric noises, and various shrieking noises from chenle -- and donghyuck is a little bit concerned about how the slamming and electric noises are getting even louder. 

_ “okay, to be fair,”  _ jisung starts, but he doesn’t even get to finish, interrupted by another metallic noise and screech from chenle. 

“goddamnit, jisung,” donghyuck sighs, already getting a grasp of the situation. “not walking into caves is, like, hero etiquette number one. do you kids know  _ anything _ about survival in the hero world?” 

_ “stop berating me!”  _ jisung shoots at him.  _ “the cave took us more than we went in! the problem is -- oh fuck!”  _ suddenly there’s a clatter, and silence, and donghyuck assumes jisung has dropped the phone. he waits a moment, and surely enough,  _ “okay yeah, so, a big ass metal hydra just swung it’s big ass metal head at me, no big deal,”  _

“oh, there’s a big metal hydra, huh?” 

_ “yeah, there’s a big metal hydra. oh, and, by the way, there are also big metal spiders and -- guess what! -- it’s a  _ big fucking metal chimera!  _ thank god! just what i wanted!” _ jisung’s voice is utter contempt, spite, and sarcasm, and donghyuck fights away a laugh. 

“yeah, yeah, okay, i get it.” donghyuck says. “you need someone to come save your asses, basically.” 

_ “just hurry up, okay?”  _ jisung says.  _ “at this rate, i don’t know what’ll kill me -- these metal monsters, or chenle’s shrieking _ .” 

“no promises,” donghyuck says. he hangs up before jisung can say more, and the other four in the room glance at him. 

“so,” mark says. “something’s happening?” 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a chensung interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! it took me longer to post this chapter than i expected, sorry (summer school killed me a little)  
> i said this last time, but this is honestly my favorite chapter of this story, at least of what i've written so far (i'm probably just a sucker for chensung honestly) so i hope you guys like it too!
> 
> (quick update: i did change a little bit of this chapter, because i realized i screwed up the timeline a bit. it's nothing huge though. sorry!)

after donghyuck left, chenle and jisung had no idea what to do. 

they walk through the park for a while, finishing the blueberries and talking aimlessly. they had meant to come up with a plan, but before long they are strolling barefoot, feeling the grass against their ankles and forgetting, just for a little while, about gods and quests. they just talk to each other, about themselves, about anything funny that happened recently. nothing deep; chenle never asks about zeus, or why jisung got upset the day before. jisung doesn’t ask him anything about poseidon either, or why chenle never learned anything about the gods or being a hero. 

instead, they find out that they both love music. jisung is a dancer, and chenle a singer, and they even show off a little bit of what they know to each other. jisung talks about his mom -- adoptive mom, who he seems to absolutely adore -- and chenle mentions his own mother, because he also absolutely adores her. chenle talks about his friends, and jisung does a little too; he says he doesn’t know too many people, but he has some friends at his dance studio. they even talk about donghyuck a little (though jisung just insults him).

there’s a stall in the conversation, eventually, but not one that’s awkward or strange. jisung looks almost like he’s contemplating something, as they stand there barefoot and young, so chenle doesn’t say a thing. he just waits, until jisung turns to him with eyes that glisten the way stars in the night sky do. 

“want to come somewhere with me?” he asks, a grin forming on his face, and chenle returns it without hesitation. 

jisung reaches out his hand, and chenle grabs it, and it’s just like the first time they met, except they know more about each other now, and the thing that is exploding is not a building, but chenle’s heart, bursting into bright colors of a fast-beating excitement. 

jisung takes them to the sky, like running up stairs made of air, until they are practically swimming among the clouds. the sky is softer than chenle had ever imagined, a gently caressing wind brushing his skin, and he never thought floating would feel so much like falling, plummeting gently into a deep, deep whirlpool of something sort of terrifying, something sort of beautiful, something intangible but deeply felt. 

something that’s maybe almost like love, chenle thinks. 

when they go so high up those stairs of air that they can hardly see the city beneath the clouds around them, jisung lands on a puff of clouds, taking chenle’s other hand to slowly drift him down as well, and chenle is shocked when his feet touch the clouds without slipping through. 

“don’t let go of my hand,” jisung warns softly, the barest hint of a smile on his face. “you’ll plummet to the ground and die.” 

chenle gulps. “don’t say something so terrifying so happily,” he tells the other boy, who giggles as a response. 

“when earth gets too tiring and difficult, i come up here,” jisung says, eyes turning up to the expansive, endless sky above and all around them. “there’s never anyone else around here, so i’m free to myself and my thoughts. my dad might be lord of the skies,” jisung says, “but i like to think that i own whatever bit of sky i’m standing on, and that he could fly for years and never steal me from it.” 

chenle stares into jisung’s eyes, squeezing the younger boy’s hands a little bit tighter. 

“your dad might be lord of the skies,” chenle echoes softly, “but you’re his son, and you are as much one with the sky as he is. he can never take you away from the sky, as long as you don’t let him.” 

sometimes, chenle thinks, words can be empty, and he doesn’t want his to be, so he says them while believing in them more than he has ever believed in anything else in the world. 

jisung’s eyes are sort of wide (an adorable look), and his eyebrows are touching his bangs. “no one’s,” he almost seems to choke on his words, or maybe he’s forgotten that they’re coming out of his mouth at all. “no one’s ever said anything like that to me before,” he admits. 

“well,” chenle says, “i don’t know gods very well, but i like to think i know the world. and i’m very good at believing in people,” he adds, with a sweet little grin, and a small laugh escapes jisung. 

“yeah,” he says, “i’ve seen that.” 

the two of them are still staring at each other, feeling something that could never be easily spoken or described, something that transcends both the earth chenle knows and the skies jisung knows. 

“one day,” chenle whispers, “i’ll take you to the ocean. so you can see a bit of me, too.” 

jisung swallows visibly, nodding a little shakily, and giving chenle’s hands a squeeze as if, for just a moment, he was too weak to hold himself up, even though it was his strength keeping both of them so many miles above the ground. 

after they’ve stood there for a long time -- several minutes that felt like gentle, but serious hours, sharing their souls through the silence -- jisung finally says, “we should probably go back down,” and chenle smiles out a responding agreement. 

the feeling of slowly stepping back down the stairs of clouds to the ground is what chenle thinks it may feel like for a leaf to gently float down to the earth, and he nearly topples over himself when his feet finally touch the earth. only a few seconds after they’ve been standing on the ground does jisung let go of chenle’s hands, taking an awkward glance around the park. 

“we should probably start looking for that ten guy, huh?” jisung says, though both are reluctant to end their break and start working. 

“yeah,” chenle agrees with a small sigh. “where should we start?” 

they discuss that for a while, after finding and putting their shoes on again, and finally decide it might be best to end their ‘hard work’ for the day and start tomorrow. jisung walks chenle home, and the two of them chat leisurely about the quest on their way. when their conversation lapses for just a moment, chenle tilts his head up and feels the sunlight, squints up past it to gaze at the sky.  

“for the record,” he says softly, and jisung glances at him questioningly, “i think the sky is truly beautiful.” 

jisung flushes a little, turning his gaze to stare down at the ground. “thanks,” he hushes out, and both of them know that chenle’s words meant more to him than they could to anybody else in the world.  

 

the next day, chenle and jisung try to start looking for ten in earnest. they try looking him up, but there’s hardly any information at all (except a sort of shady twitter account full of memes, but nothing useful). they visit jisung’s dance studio, asking around to see if anyone might know anything about some of johnny’s old friends. sicheng, being the closest to johnny, gives them some advice -- while also eyeing them curiously, but neither know how to explain why they’re looking for friends of someone who disappeared two years ago. but even after hours of looking into the recommended places, they’re left empty-handed. in the end, they decide they may be able to find some clues in the woods around the cabin, and agree to search the next day (because investigating the woods at night seems like a bad idea).  


they meet up at the park the next day, and call an uber to get to their destination. after they’re dropped off a reasonable distance from the woods, chenle and jisung walk the rest of the way there.

“do you really think this plan’ll work?” jisung wonders. 

“reasonably,” chenle begins, and jisung shakes his head lightly, “it probably wouldn’t, but this sort of thing works for me.” 

jisung scrunches his nose. “luck?” he wonders. 

“eh,” chenle says, “i’ve always had average luck.” 

jisung gives a short laugh. “i’ve always had horrid luck.” 

“well,” chenle says, “maybe  _ that’s _ why we’ll find what we’re looking for.” 

“wouldn’t that be something,” jisung mutters. 

“this guy,” chenle says slowly and suddenly, looking contemplative, “he must’ve really loved johnny, right?” 

“i guess so,” jisung says. “he went through a lot for johnny, after all.” 

“yeah,” chenle agrees quietly. 

“what is it?” jisung asks. 

chenle makes an unhappy face. “do you think that…” 

“what?” jisung pries. 

“well, like… ten became a god after he died, right?” he says. 

“yeah, that’s what you told me.” jisung points out. 

“and he became a god to help johnny,” chenle continues, ignoring jisung. “so wouldn’t that mean…” 

“yes?” jisung presses. 

chenle gives him a meaningful, sort of sad expression. “that ten died for johnny?” 

jisung pauses, and now his face echoes chenle’s unhappy expression from earlier. “i don’t know,” he says quietly, that expression falling into something more solemn, and even harder to read. “let’s not dwell on that.” 

chenle purses his lips, then nods. 

they continue walking on, chenle changing the atmosphere and the subject by talking about some tv show he’s started watching recently. they take a stop at the cabin, but unsurprisingly, there isn’t much to see. 

“do you want to walk deeper in the woods?” jisung asks. “ten might’ve been there, stopped to wait for or find johnny or something.” 

chenle nods. “we should be careful of bear traps, though.” he adds. “this seems like the kinda place they’d have lots of those.” 

jisung shrugs as they walk back out of the cave. 

“some of those net trap things with the ropes, too. the ones where people step on them and then get caught in a net and hang from a tree for a while.” chenle continues. 

“do people actually use those in real life?” jisung wonders. 

chenle shrugs. “not like i’ve ever gone hunting.” 

“or been in any forests at all, i bet,” jisung snarks, and chenle hits him playfully. 

“i’ve been in forests!” he argues. “we had a really pretty forest beyond my house back in china.” 

“oh, what an adventurer you were,” jisung responds sarcastically, and chenle laughs. 

“i got attacked by a big snake monster there one time.” chenle says. 

“a basilisk?” jisung questions, surprised. 

“no, no,” chenle says. “i thought it was a serpent actually, but donghyuck told me what they were -- they were… they were…” he pauses, brows furrowed up at the sky as he tries to remember. “ah, whatever,” he says, giving up. “some sorta snake thing.”

jisung snorts. “you must be quite the student for donghyuck.” 

“hey, he shoved a lot of information in my brain.” chenle argues. “there’s no way i could remember it all.” 

“yeah, yeah, and i’m sure you remember so much.” jisung says. 

chenle puts a hand to his heart, shaking his head. “i’ve never been so disrespected in my life. who are you, park jisung!” 

“i’m park jisung,” jisung responds, a grin gracing his features no matter how he tries to push it down, and the two of them end up just giggling as chenle lightly shoves jisung. 

they walk a little deeper, bantering all the while. they hardly even notice the way the sun is slowly beginning to set, or the way the grass and the trees seem a darker green than they should be. in fact, they hardly notice a thing, except for that they’ve been walking for a suspiciously long time, until they notice a cave, which is really rather hard not to notice. 

“should we go in?” chenle wonders curiously. 

jisung scrunches his nose again, listening close. “do you hear that?” he asks. 

“the loud whirring noises? yeah, i definitely hear that,” chenle says. the cave is giving off strange, electric sort of noises, and they had become even louder in just the span of time in which jisung had asked his question. 

“it’s probably dangerous,” jisung says. “i don’t think we should --” and he is cut off, first by chenle walking off ahead of him and coming close to the cave’s entrance, and then by the cave’s mouth seeming to open wide, and then wider. it opens up half as high as the tallest trees in the forest, then falls forward in an arch. an arch which hits the ground behind jisung’s back, and then closes in again to push jisung and chenle completely into the cave. 

they’re trapped. 

the whirring noises are incredibly loud now -- right by their ears. and when chenle sees a metal hydra and a metal chimera emerge from them darkness of the cave, he knows why. 

“what the absolute fuck is this,” jisung asks, voice shaking with terror. 

the chimera lunges. chenle shrieks. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey there! once again it took me longer to get this chapter up then i meant to, sorry  
> school's starting soon (ughh) so this may end up being my last update for quite a while  
> anyway this is a really big chapter, so i'm a little bit uncertain about if it turned out the way it should've, but hopefully you guys like it :) 
> 
> and happy birthday mark!!! love you :D <3

“you know what,” chenle admits with a wheeze, ducking to avoid a fire attack from the metal chimera, “i thought this would be a much better idea than this!” 

jisung shoots him a look. “oh, did you?” he asks, projecting his sarcasm as loudly as he can. “oh, let’s randomly walk around near the hunting cabin! maybe our bad luck will help us here! oh, and let’s  _ walk into the totally not threatening cave while we’re at it!”  _

“shut up!” chenle whines. “how was i supposed to know it would be full of monsters? you didn’t know either!” 

“i had my  _ suspicions!” _ jisung shrieks, jumping over a spider and nearly falling over his own head. “from the multitude of  _ whirring noises _ coming from the cave! the only reason we’re stuck in here is cause you went wandering forward and the friggin cave thought i’d be yummy too and  _ swallowed us whole!”  _

chenle ducks down and shoots water out of the ground to douse the chimera’s fire, and the machine sparks slightly. “aren’t electric things supposed to be bad with water?” he complains. 

“yeah, well, they shouldn’t get stronger every time i zap them with lightning either, so --” jisung says, floating himself over the huge hydra, but not any higher. he learned his lesson after waking up all the spiders from jumping into the ceiling. “don’t you think maybe it would do us some good to have weapons? just maybe?” 

chenle actually pauses at that, mid incredible life-threatening terror, and glances at jisung. “huh. i never thought about that.” 

jisung shoots under the feet of the hydra and hops over a spider to push chenle out of the way of the chimera’s fire breath. “focus on the fight, idiot!” he scolds, and chenle, maturely, sticks his tongue out at him. afterwards, though, he sends out a wave of water, this time boiling hot. it makes a satisfying sizzling noise when it hits the metal chimera’s body, though it doesn’t actually seem to do any harm. 

the chimera bumbles towards the two of them -- the one thing that’s somewhat bearable about it, jisung thinks, is how absolutely slow it is -- and jisung uses its head as a balancing point for his hand as he half hops, half slides over it, and then he faces chenle. 

“listen, you hit it with some of your ice, and i’ll hit it with some lightning from this side, okay?” 

chenle nods, eyes surprisingly serious, and jisung focuses a spark out of his arm. it gives him that familiar, almost sort of fun bubbling sensation as it rides up his arm and then shoots out, hitting the chimera straight in its ass. from the other side, chenle has impaled it with a spike of ice. the chimera makes a pained electric noise, wiggling unhappily. 

slowly, and to jisung and chenle’s shock, the chimera seems to suck up the shot of ice, slowly absorbing it into itself. 

“what the fuck?” jisung mutters, while chenle shrieks, “it can do that?” 

“this thing is definitely not normal,” jisung says. 

“can we even beat it?” chenle asks. 

“nothing else for us to do,” jisung says, sliding his foot backwards and hitting a fight pose. “hit it again, chenle!” 

they do it once more, than once again, before the spiders decide to start swarming over them and they have to flail and run around, sending off shots where they can. the hydra is fortunately the slowest of the bunch, and also the stupidest -- rather than attacking them, it’s been falling over its own legs and dropping its head to the ground uselessly most of the time -- so they don’t have to worry about much other than the chimera and the spiders. 

except for when the hydra occasionally does manage to attack, and shoots out poison that can literally melt the cave wall. 

“if donghyuck doesn’t show up some time soon,” jisung sighs as he hunches down on the ground to take up as little space as possible, a spider on the wall horrifyingly close to his head, “i swear to god i’m gonna haunt him.” 

chenle impales the spider with a spike of ice, and jisung runs while he can. 

miraculously, that’s the same moment that the cave opens, sunlight like an angel’s breath shining in on them for a moment, before five other teenage boys all get suddenly thrown into the cave the same way jisung and chenle had been earlier. 

“what the hell?” jisung asks. 

“as i was trying to say,” says donghyuck’s familiar voice, as the red-haired boy stands and dusts himself off, “renjun, you might see something especially shocking here.” 

there are four strangers with donghyuck. jisung hadn’t expected donghyuck to bring anyone else with him, but there’s something about their presences, so unexpected but so strangely meaningful, that tells jisung that they  _ should  _ be here. it’s like the universe itself is whispering that, no matter how miniscule this moment may seem, something important has just happened. 

“more shocking,” a black-haired boy is saying to donghyuck, “than all of this?” he asks, staring shell shocked at the metal spiders, chimera, and hydra.  

“yeah,” donghyuck says with a knowing smile, looking at a sort of angry, tired looking dark-haired boy (admittedly, jisung thinks he’s a little terrifying). 

chenle’s eyes have traveled over the newcomers the same way jisung’s had, but his stops on this brown-haired boy with a different sort of reaction, and he actually gasps before he breathes out a quiet, “renjun?” and the boy’s eyes turn upon him as well, responding with a similar shock. 

“chenle?” he asks. “what are you --” 

before he can finish his sentence, one of the spiders throws itself at him, and donghyuck slices through it with a long, fine-tipped sword. the handle is crimson red and has a rather ominous, but striking design over it. 

“we’ll have to do explanations later i’m afraid, you two.” donghyuck says. “right now, shall we defeat your enemy?” 

chenle frowns a little, glancing at donghyuck and then back to the scary-looking boy, who is still staring back with wide eyes. 

the chimera ambles towards chenle with an electric roar, and a wave of the scary boy’s hand brings shadows that push it away. 

“afterwards, i guess,” he says to chenle, a little bit of amusement mixing with the shock in his eyes. 

chenle gives him a grin. “yeah, afterwards,” he agrees. 

a spider jumps at jisung, distracting him from the other two boys, but their conversation has already been ended and replaced with fighting. 

the battle goes much easier with donghyuck there, and his crimson sword. he calls it a chaos sword, and mentions offhand as he’s slicing up spiders that it was made by eris herself. 

“so, occasionally,” he adds, “it does try to hit more than the intended target, but as long as you’re capable of controlling it, it’s fine.” 

“oh, sure,” jisung mutters, “cause we’re all safe with you in charge of such a weapon.” 

donghyuck ignores his comment, and instead gracefully chops another spider in half. 

“well, i’m glad he has it,” chenle says decidedly. “i’d rather give him a weapon than die at the hands of metal monsters.” 

jisung has to agree with him there. 

but even if donghyuck weren’t there, jisung thinks, they probably would survive anyway. with so many monsters, everyone in the cave has something to fight, but some stand out more than others. donghyuck’s crimson sword has an advantage on the field, but the bigger enemies, and even the bigger spiders, don’t all die even when they’re cut in half. one of the newcomers has golden brown hair, and his smile is so bright it stops the monsters from moving (sometimes it catches jisung’s eye, and he has to bring himself back into the fight before he gets hurt, too), but he doesn’t have too much in the way of physically hurting anything. another boy, this one with silver hair, can create a mini little sun with his hands that seems to hurt the monsters a little, but not much more than that. a third boy, the one with black hair, is more helpful -- he knows spells that can literally make the monsters self destruct. unfortunately, they take more time, and more energy, it seems, so to keep himself going he mostly uses paralysis spells. 

so, if jisung’s honest, other than donghyuck, they’re not super helpful. to be fair, though, even he and chenle have fighting powers, but still can’t do a lot to hurt the strange enemies. 

on the other hand, though, there’s the boy chenle called renjun. from the moment he began fighting, he had chanted something that had made the earth rumble, and then wispy spirits had shot out of it. they don’t seem able to kill the monsters, but they cover them up and make them slow down. renjun follows up by creating darkness which swarms around the enemies. he can stab it into them, like a knife of shadows, can make it enter them and obliterate them from the inside. 

it’s a pretty horrid thing to watch, but jisung can’t help but do so anyway. 

when the enemies have all been destroyed, it’s mostly thanks to renjun. 

all seven boys let out a resounding sigh in unison once it’s done, chenle collapsing to the ground and leaning back on his arms. 

jisung shakes his hair out, feeling tired and in need of a nap. “finally,” he sighs. “they’re all dead.” 

chenle grins at donghyuck, then the other newcomers. “thanks for all the help,” he says. 

“no problem,” says the black-haired boy with a laugh, the pretty boy and the silver-haired boy both smiling too. 

donghyuck, meanwhile, places his hands on his hips and gives chenle and jisung a pointed look. “how did you two even get into this mess?” 

“chenle,” jisung begins, as the boy in question rolls his eyes, “walked towards this stupid cave, and it swallowed us up whole.” 

“swallowed you?” the black-haired boy echoes. “how does that happen?” 

“more importantly,” says the beautiful light-haired boy, “who do you think made all these monsters?” 

from behind them, someone clears their throat. a tall man is leaning against the wall that was once the entrance to the cave, but jisung has no idea how on earth he got there. 

“that would be me,” he says. “guess you teenagers are the ones who caused all this trouble in my cave?” 

chenle snickers, and jisung glances at him questioningly. 

“sorry,” chenle says with a smile, “he just sounds kinda like those old guys who are all like ‘get off my lawn’ and stuff.” 

jisung snorts, and donghyuck rolls his eyes at the two of them. renjun is giving them a certain look that makes jisung uncomfortable, though he’s sure it’s only because renjun is surprised that chenle is here, since they apparently know each other. jisung is curious about that, but it seems like it’s still not quite time to talk about that. 

“don’t worry,” the tall man says, “i’m not really that upset, honestly. i mean, i’ll have to rebuild all my works, but at least i got some real data on them now.” 

“who are you?” renjun asks. 

“i’m doyoung,” he says. “kim doyoung. i’m a son of hephaestus.” 

donghyuck lets out an understanding hum. “no wonder those metal beasts were so well made.” 

doyoung shrugs. “not well made enough to fight off seven demigods.” he raises an eyebrow at them. “so what are all you kids doing in here?” he casually strides forward, stopping not a couple steps from the entrance. his fingers tap across the wall like they’re pressing buttons, and suddenly the wall of the cave opens back into the mouth, revealing the outside world again. “that’s how you would’ve turned off my creations, for the record,” he adds. 

“we’re looking for someone,” chenle answers, and everyone turns to look at him. “what?” he asks the other teenagers, who are all sharing a certain ‘are you serious’ look. 

“this guy made monsters that nearly took our lives,” jisung says. “or did you forget?” 

“how could i forget? that  _ just  _ happened.” chenle responded. “it’s not like he’s trying to kill us anymore.” 

“i’m not going to hurt you boys,” doyoung affirms. “it’s not often i meet other demigods, i’m just curious. you can all leave if you’d like, really.” 

everyone exchanges looks; jisung glances at chenle, who raises his eyebrows at donghyuck, who stares questioningly at renjun, who meets eyes shyly with the pretty boy, who looks over to the silver haired one, who shrugs at the black-haired boy. 

“how do we know you won’t hurt us?” the black-haired boy asks doyoung, taking charge. 

doyoung shrugs. “no reason to hurt you guys; my metal monsters only went after you all cause you came in here without permission.” 

“to be fair,” jisung speaks up, “your cave swallowed us up before we actually took a step inside.” 

“oh, really?” doyoung asks, and then he lets out a short sigh. “must be the new addition. that was supposed to be for dramatic effect. guess i’ll have to get rid of it.” 

“why did you create all those monsters?” the black-haired boy asks. 

“i’m hephaestus’ kid,” doyoung says. “the urge to create is always in me. sometimes i create weapons, sometimes i create monsters. whatever my heart desires. it’s not like i think i’ll ever create something for the gods themselves, or like i really want to. but history is kinda cool, isn’t it? so i like to make historical things.” 

“like monsters,” the black-haired boy echoes. 

“yeah, i guess,” doyoung says. “though they’re also just here to protect my workshop.” 

“your workshop?” the silver-haired boy echoes. 

doyoung extends his arm to the depths of the cave, slightly more visible with the added outside light. jisung thinks he can make out faint shapes. “my workshop,” he repeats. 

“you make weapons?” chenle suddenly asks. 

“that’s right,” doyoung says. “among other things.” 

chenle gives jisung an excited look, who takes a moment to understand his meaning. 

“you really think so?” jisung wonders aloud. 

“you’re the one who said it earlier,” chenle responds. 

“but this guy tried to kill us.” jisung says. 

“his  _ monsters  _ did,” chenle corrects. “and only because we trespassed. anyway, where else are we gonna get them from?” 

jisung purses his lips. 

“what are you two talking about?” donghyuck asks. 

“chenle thinks we should ask doyoung to make weapons for us,” jisung translates. 

“i mean, yours did a lot for you,” chenle points out to donghyuck. 

donghyuck glances at renjun, who glares back, and then looks at the black-haired boy. 

“we are on a dangerous mission,” the black-haired boy reasons, but he’s looking hesitantly at renjun. 

renjun rolls his eyes. “i’m not gonna be leader here or something. we can do whatever.” 

“oh,” the black-haired boy says, sounding a little surprised, or even relieved. 

“what?” renjun asks. 

“i don’t know,” the boy says. “i just kinda thought you would be in charge. you’re the strongest, the most experienced. and this was your mission from the beginning, so you always took charge, right?” 

“well, you’re all overly involved by now,” renjun says. “it’s hardly only my mission by now. i’m no leader anyway.” he studies the black-haired boy for a moment. “you can be the leader.” 

“me?” the black-haired boy asks, surprised. 

“who better?” he responds. “you’re the oldest one here, and you get along okay with both donghyuck and i. not a lot of people can do that.” 

“what does that mean?” donghyuck asks, as the other boys present all smile. 

“i trust you,” the pretty boy speaks up. “you’re a good person, mark. i think you’d be a good leader, too.” 

“uh,” mark, as he is apparently named, says intelligently. “i mean, if you all… really think so.” 

“go for it,” donghyuck says. “if you let us down, we’ll all be disappointed.” 

“don’t be stupid, donghyuck,” the silver-haired boy says, and jisung snorts. “jaemin’s right,” he continues, “you’re a good person. i wouldn’t say you come across as overwhelmingly heroic, ‘cause that’s the type that’s always reckless. instead you’re more ‘real’, if that makes sense. and you’ll make good decisions.” he smiles at mark. “what do you think?” 

mark looks around at everyone else, and gets confident looks in return (even from jisung and chenle, because jisung may not know this boy very well at all, but he has a feeling he can trust him anyway.) slowly, mark nods. “then, okay,” he says. he turns to look at doyoung. “can you take us to your workshop?” 

doyoung, who had regarded the conversation with interest, nods agreeably. “come on in,” he says, as he walks forward. “welcome to doyoung’s clang clang workshop.” 

“your  _ what?”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for the record, 'clang clang workshop' is based off of 'vroom vroom talkshow'


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! i'm actually here again wow  
> here's a jaemin chapter for jaemin's birthday! i thought it'd be nice to post today haha  
> if i'm being honest, i feel kind of awkward about this chapter, even though i don't know why? but it's another big one, and kind of on the long side, so i hope you have fun with that haha 
> 
> (also, you may have noticed me put in the number of chapters for this story. depending on the revisions i make, that could change, but i do have all of those chapters written out, so it should stay at least mostly the same)

doyoung takes them into his ‘clang clang workshop’, repeating the name to the incredulous jisung (whose name jaemin only learns as they’re walking into the workshop), but none of them process it the second time they hear it either.  

doyoung is, jaemin thinks, undoubtedly an interesting person. it shouldn’t be easy to adapt to being casual with someone who created mechanical creatures that attacked them, but somehow they all end up falling into doyoung’s stride. his work shop is really more elaborate than what anyone would usually expect out of the cave, which had originally seemed dull and simple and dark. between the entrance to the cave where they had been attacked, and the deeper darkness that they couldn’t see through before, is a rug that looks sort of like a persian rug, or maybe even an elaborate tapestry, and jaemin wonders if doyoung even made this. beyond the rug are golden brown wooden floors and black marble walls, creating a surprisingly homey atmosphere. 

when it comes down to it, jaemin can tell that doyoung truly loves creating things. the tables, the tools, and, above all, the works are all taken good care of. there is an in progress sphynx sitting at the farthest back wall of the cave, head dropped against its chest and every bit of metal shining. there is a forge, right by a hearth that doyoung lights for them. jaemin can see axes, swords, and daggers set up on a table beside it. on the wall above that, some shields have been hung up. 

“i like to recreate things,” doyoung says, “just as much as i like originals. i dabble in other people’s works with weapons, shields, and obviously my creatures are modeled after the real deal. i put most of my works,” he continues, pressing the wall near the forge in a similar way to when he had opened the cave mouth, “in this room here.” 

the wall slides into itself, revealing an entrance to another room. this one even has a floor tile, white walls, and a glass ceiling installed, and all the white and gray makes it a stark contrast from the main part of the workshop. 

the first thing that catches jaemin’s eyes is hung up right across from the entrance. wings, about as long as a human’s arms. they look sort of like an angel’s, but jaemin knows they would be used by a human. 

“icarus’ wings?” jaemin asks. 

“yeah,” doyoung says. “though i like to imagine these ones would have held.” 

“do you ever want to fly?” jeno asks. “all the way to the sun?” 

doyoung hums in thought. “no,” he says, “i was never meant for flight. but i always think it’s a shame icarus had to fall back down, don’t you?” 

“yeah,” jeno replies softly, approaching the wings to gaze at them closer. 

“or maybe it’s a shame he ever left the ground at all,” renjun surmises quietly. 

jaemin looks between the two of them and wonders, if one never wants to fly at all, and one wants to fly and succeed, who is trying to run away the most between them. 

but the truth is, jaemin thinks the legend is fine the way it is, so maybe he’s the one trying to run, since he thinks it’s okay to ignore what others tell you and end up plummeting to the sea. at least that way, you get that one short moment of bliss, that feeling of the sun over your head, the beauty of the sky, the adrenaline pumping in your veins as you do something most humans would never get to. 

“you’ve made a lot of weapons,” mark notes, peering into a glass case that sits in the center of the room. inside it are a variety of weapons, more elaborate and beautiful than the simpler ones outside. 

“well, weapon making is the most common sort of creation that we kids of hephaestus can do,” doyoung says. “and it’s kind of fun,” he adds. “at their core, weapons are simple things, but a lot of times, weapons can reflect their user. it’s one thing to use a weapon you’ve just picked up, but when it means something to you, when it connects to you, then it’s something much more. a lot of great heroes have had weapons that are important to them -- some of these are recreations of weapons like those.” 

“sometimes,” donghyuck speaks up, “a weapon can even become more important because a hero has cared about it. it can take on interesting aspects, become harder to break or something like that. they say a weapon that truly represents its user will also grow with its user. granted,” he gives doyoung a look, “they were made well.” 

“i’ll make them well,” doyoung responds confidently. 

“how long would it take?” mark asks. 

“depends, i guess,” doyoung says. “for the six of you without weapons… if i work on nothing else for a while, and i work fast, then i could finish in about three weeks, maybe.” 

“then don’t make us all weapons.” renjun says. “i don’t need one.” 

doyoung raises an eyebrow at him. “you sure?” he asks. 

renjun opens his mouth to respond, but jaemin interrupts. 

“make him a weapon,” jaemin tells doyoung. renjun glances at jaemin, looking confused. 

“i have a bow and arrow back at my home that i’ve used before,” jeno speaks up. “i’m already used to it and all, so it’ll be fine for me to use.” 

doyoung nods at him. “then,” he says, “i’ll still only make five?” 

mark glances at jeno and jaemin, then gives doyoung an affirmative response. renjun is still sort of frowning at jaemin, partly just out of confusion it seems, but jaemin only responds with a light smile. he thinks renjun needs a weapon -- he can’t completely say why, but maybe it’s because jaemin sometimes gets this worried feeling, like the swarm of ghosts and darkness that renjun lets envelop his enemies could one day envelop him. 

“there’s one thing i still want to know, though,” doyoung says. “what’s your goal? chenle said you’re looking for someone?” 

all seven of them exchange glances, and mark, as their newly appointed leader, is silently given the role of explaining. 

“some of us here,” mark says, “got a quest from the gods to round up these people who escaped from tartarus. but we found out that those said people might not deserve to be sent back to tartarus, and that zeus and some of the other gods are probably doing some really terrible things. we want to try helping the people who escaped.” 

“you’re going to go against the gods?” doyoung asks. “against  _ zeus?" _

mark glances at the other seven, and it occurs to all of them at that moment that they have no true set plan. there’s renjun, who’s still not even entirely in agreement, and there’s the fact that some of them only met for the first time here. it’s hard to so bravely speak some sort of determination here, when they can’t even be entirely sure. 

“we -- we’re not sure,” jeno is the first to say. “if possible, we’d like to just save the people who escaped from tartarus, without any fighting. but if we have to…” 

“we don’t even know if we’ll help them,” renjun cuts in. “i told you guys,” and he looks at jeno, donghyuck, and mark, “that i’d give you a week. when it comes down to it, we may not really need these weapons at all.” 

mark bites his lip, then rather bravely says, “well, to be fair, that was before you appointed me leader.” 

renjun frowns at mark, who shrugs in response, and jaemin tries not to smile. 

to doyoung, mark says, “we’ll do what we have to do. even if that means going against zeus.” 

and then, a little surprisingly, a bit of a grin spreads on doyoung’s face. 

“never thought i’d run into anyone with the balls,” he says. “but it’s seven teenagers, huh?” 

“so…” chenle says. “that means?” 

“oh,” doyoung says, “i’m definitely willing to help you guys. i mean, you seem like sweet enough kids -- and you’re  _ only  _ kids. it’s a little saddening, maybe even frustrating, that we can only let a bunch of teenagers try to do something as big as this, but it seems like these days that’s the way things go. i’m not strong enough to do anything other than make your weapons, but i want to at least do that. anyway, you’re not alone in wanting to go against zeus, you’re just the only ones who have ever wanted to try.” 

“so you,” jeno says, “like, think we’re doing the right thing?” 

doyoung hums quietly. “no one can ever really say what the right thing is for sure. i think zeus is a horrible guy, sure, a huge asshole, but of course there are doubts if you go through with this. there’s no chance of you miraculously changing who he is, not when he’s been who he is for hundreds of centuries, and then some. so you’re only option will be to take away his power. of course i’d wonder about what happens if you try and fail, and also what’ll happen if you try and succeed. like, will someone take his place?” 

everyone is silent, glancing around at each other. once again they’re met with a question they don’t know how to answer, a question they haven’t thought about. 

“well,” doyoung continues with a gentle smile, “you have time to think on this. my point is, gods and demigods alike have hated zeus. he’s done a lot of horrid things. and i know my father definitely hates him, and he’s been abused in a lot of ways by zeus. i guess you may not go through with this in the end, but if you do, i’ll wish you luck, and watch you with a little bit of hope.” 

some time later, after talking to doyoung some more, the seven of them head to jaemin’s house, all of them silent under the weight of all the thoughts that have pervaded their minds. 

“i think,” mark says, when they’ve made it to jaemin’s living room, as they all get settled down, “we need to really put things into perspective.” 

the others nod or hum agreements, a little bit tired and quiet. jaemin, jeno, and renjun take one couch again; donghyuck and mark take the other, since johnny had been moved to a bedroom upstairs, and chenle and jisung sit on the floor together. jaemin thinks maybe it’s because they all don’t completely know each other yet, but they all seem to have fallen into little groups that make them more comfortable. for jaemin and jeno, they have heard a truth about renjun that they know nobody else knows, and jaemin wouldn’t be comfortable leaving his side, just as he’s sure renjun wouldn’t be comfortable sitting with anyone else (except for maybe the cute dolphin boy named chenle, but he’s a little glued to jisung at the moment). for donghyuck, mark is the one who helped him with johnny, the one who stood up for him when he was fighting with renjun, and the two of them seem to have already clicked in some inconspicuous way. and chenle and jisung, jaemin doesn’t know very well, or at all really, but they know each other clearly, and they get along. 

“in the end,” mark says, “this wasn’t our shared quest from the very beginning, and we don’t all know each other. if we keep going things will get really difficult. especially for you two,” he looks at chenle and jisung, “you’re both really young, and, admittedly, i don’t know you so well, but i don’t think you should have to do any of this if you don’t want to.” 

chenle gives mark a shiny little grin and says, “i got this quest from my dad, you know,” he says, and mark looks a little surprised, a little understanding. “and jisung,” he looks to the other boy, “is super strong. we’ll be fine.” 

“chenle,” renjun speaks up, and they all look towards him. jaemin figures they’re finally talking about it, since they hadn’t had a chance at any other point. maybe not in full, because it’s a little bit of a private conversation, but it does need to be addressed. “you’re --” 

“poseidon’s kid,” chenle nods. “a demigod.” he smiles softly. “and you’re hades’ kid.”

they both sort of stare at each other, quiet, absorbing this new information. jaemin thinks they’re probably seeing each other in a different light, but it’s all rather gentle, and he’s sort of comforted by the idea that renjun has a close friend. 

he always seems so alone, after all. 

finally, renjun shifts, leaning back against the couch and crossing his legs. “guess i shouldn’t be surprised,” he says. “you always have a knack for getting in trouble.” 

chenle grins again, and says, “and you have a knack for causing trouble, renjun. i guess we have a lot more in common than being the chinese kids at school, though.” renjun gives a smile back, without really thinking about it, and jaemin tries not to let his heart flutter at the rare sight. chenle glances over to donghyuck then, adding, “so was renjun the one you’d been hinting at before? i thought you said he was your enemy?” 

“he was,” donghyuck said, looking over to renjun. “we’ve hit a…” he makes a face, “truce, of sorts. i guess somehow we’re all working together now.” 

renjun sighs, “not that i can say i’m a fan of that,” he mutters, and chenle smiles. 

“you’ve never been a group project person,” he giggles. 

“but we’re all here now,” jaemin says, and his gaze meets renjun’s. “i don’t think any of us plan on backing out.” 

the rest give their agreement through their certain silence. 

“but, how did you two get involved in this?” mark asks chenle and jisung. “chenle, you said your dad gave you this quest?”

chenle nods, and gives them a short summary of events. he got the quest, fought yuta (“you  _ what _ ?” mark says, and renjun snorts), met jisung, met donghyuck, and found out the quest wasn’t so clear cut after all. 

“the two of them were looking for ten for me, but then ended up in that cave instead,” donghyuck says with a laugh. 

“well, anyway,” says chenle, “what have all of you been doing? i didn’t have any idea so many people were involved in this quest.”

the five other boys talk about how they all got involved, recounting important events (of course, jaemin doesn’t mention things like meeting renjun’s mom, though her face and her voice are still vivid in his mind). when they’re done, they’ve all been caught up. 

“so,” jeno says, “what now? if we really can’t save johnny and the others without going against zeus after all, are we going to… fight zeus?”

“you can all be stubborn about it if you want, but i think it’s a bad idea,” renjun says. 

“but what if it’s the only choice we have?” mark asks. 

“i’m not turning johnny in, first of all,” donghyuck says. “but in the first place, leaving zeus alone this time just means letting him cause more issues. he’ll hurt more people, screw more things up, and do who knows what else. i’m sure he’s only got bad plans for the world, anyway.” 

“and if we fail?” renjun asks. 

“we don’t.” donghyuck says simply, but firmly. 

“it’s one thing to just say that,” jisung speaks up, something slightly restrained in his voice and his eyes. “but it’s not as if zeus is someone you can just easily take down.” 

“well, of course we know --” 

“no,” jisung interrupts jeno with a quiet breath, eyes on the ground and fingers pressing into his palms. “have you ever talked to zeus? ever been in his presence?” 

they all glance around at each other -- of course, none of them have; it’s not as if a demigod easily runs into the lord of the skies, the biggest of the ‘big three’. 

“i have,” jisung says grimly. “i mean, we usually meet our godly parent at least once, right?” he says. 

jaemin had figured jisung must be a child of zeus, after he’d seen all the lightning he was shooting out of his hands, but even then he wasn’t completely sure. but there’s something about jisung, something about how he can seem so small even when he’s so tall. 

chenle reaches over and places his hand right next to jisung’s tense one, not making the two touch, but keeping his close enough to remind jisung of his presence. jaemin watches the action, touched by how gentle and understanding it is. 

“zeus doesn’t have a presence like any other gods -- i’ve seen a couple other gods. he has a presence like -- like,” jisung pauses for a moment, lets out a careful breath. “like a lion, who sits on a throne ruling over bunnies and bugs. except for all his arrogance, his rudeness, his power, he knows his situation better than you’d expect. he knows where his power is weak, where he could be in even the slightest bit of danger. he’s sitting in front of a chess board of the entire world, and he is the king, except no one knows how to play the game quite like he does. no one manipulates the pieces, makes it so that even your enemies can work for you, the way that he does. he knows how to make it so no one can checkmate him. he doesn’t just mindlessly do whatever he wants -- he  _ smartly  _ does whatever he wants. he’s created a world where he can do that.” 

jaemin’s breath is caught in his throat, just a little bit, feeling unease and a bit of adrenaline beating slowly through him. he can’t help but think that there’s no way any of them are certain of their actions, no way any of them have been, but it’s easier to act when you don’t think about what you’re acting against. 

“well,” donghyuck says, voice so calm and steady for the situation, looking at jisung with knowing eyes, “there’s one key we have.” 

jisung’s brow furrows in question, and donghyuck smiles a little. 

“we have you.” 

jisung opens his mouth to argue, but donghyuck leans in closer, putting a finger to his lips to hush him. 

“we have renjun,” he points at said boy, “the strongest demigod in the world. we have chenle, who’s a genius with his control, and magically survives any scenario no matter what. we have mark, with all his fantastically witchy spells, and jaemin, who could probably make half the world kneel with a smile. we have jeno, who’s probably got a great knowledge of hunting and medicine alike, and we have me,” he gives a little grin then, pointing now at himself, “with all my knowledge and secrets. and then there’s you, and you’re the one here who holds a piece of that power zeus so prides himself on. do you think there’s ever been a team like this in the world?” 

jisung closes his mouth, pauses, and then finally replies with a quiet, “no.” 

“see?” donghyuck says proudly, leaning back. “maybe there’s a huge chance of failure, and this is the most dangerous thing we could possibly do, but we’ll get nowhere just by focusing on that.” 

“so basically,” mark says, glancing at him. 

“we  _ will  _ go against zeus. we’ll do whatever we have to.” donghyuck says. “and if that scares you, then you’re free to step out of this quest, but i think if it’s the seven of us, we can win.” he tilts his head. “is that okay?” 

after a moment, jisung gives a little nod, even if it’s slightly hesitant. 

donghyuck glances at renjun, just to check, and renjun gives a little sigh. 

“fine, then.” he says, and donghyuck grins. 

slowly, the others all give their own agreements, and jaemin thinks the air feels a little brighter now. truthfully, jaemin thinks they might all be less scared than they should be. but at the same time, they know the risks -- and the risks truly are high -- and they also know that not doing this here could harm so many people. jaemin doesn’t want to let that happen. 

“while we’re here,” jeno speaks up, “should we also go over everyone’s powers a little? and maybe review who our parents are, even. this is technically the first time we’ve gathered as this group.” 

“yeah, that’s a good idea,” mark says, and everyone nods or speaks their agreement. “i’ll start, since i’m the leader now, i guess. i’m a child -- or, well, technically  _ the  _ child -- of hecate. so, uh, i basically just know a lot of spells. it’s not really like other people’s powers ‘cause mine is actually kind of just an affinity for spells. there are actually other people in the world who can use spells too, even though they’re not kids of hecate. her existence basically just makes witchcraft a thing. but i can use every spell on earth, i’m a natural at learning them, and i’ve learned some spells without ever seeing them in a book or online or anything before.” 

they all nod, rather intrigued -- jaemin hadn’t really thought it might work like that, but he supposes that makes sense. he did notice some witchy looking books in mark’s house before. 

“as for me,” donghyuck speaks up, since mark is apparently finished, “i’m a child of eris, of course. my general existence tends to bring chaos around -- like, the wildfire at jeno’s cabin probably spread cause i was there. and i can see ‘shadows of chaos’ on people, too. those basically show when there’s some sort of conflict in people’s lives.” 

“must be a ton of them in this room right now,” jeno notes, and donghyuck gives a strange, short glance towards mark. 

“you couldn’t even imagine,” he says to jeno, looking away from mark. “anyway,” he continues, “i have a bit of control over these shadows. i can’t do something like completely get rid of them, but i can make them bigger or smaller.” 

“that’s what you did with johnny earlier?” mark asks, and donghyuck nods. 

“honestly, though, there’s not much else i can do,” donghyuck tells them, and jaemin gets the sense that donghyuck is lying -- or, more likely, holding something back. “eris’ abilities are strong, but not varied.” 

and then he kicks jisung with his foot, as if to tell the boy it’s his turn. 

“uh,” jisung says, “i can do what you’d expect a kid of zeus to do, really. i can make lightning, change the weather a bit, and i can fly. it’s not a lot, really, but it’s strong.” 

“do you have a limit to your powers?” jaemin asks. 

“a limit?” jisung asks, thinking about it. “i’ve never ran into one. i guess they’re pretty limitless.” he looks over to chenle. “you’re pretty much the basics too, right?” 

chenle nods. “yeah, i actually went over my powers with donghyuck before? i can control water obviously, i can talk to horses and underwater animals,” 

jisung mutters an, “awesome,” and chenle grins. 

“i can make it rain,” he continues, “and i can,” he makes a face, “control blood.” 

“blood?” jeno asks, his expression mimicking chenle’s. 

“yeah, it’s kinda morbid,” donghyuck agrees. “but it’s saved his life before. i saw him get bit by a poison snake and just,” he gestures with his hand, “remove all the poisoned blood.” 

“anyway!” chenle says, apparently adverse to this topic of blood, “what about you, renjun?” 

“i control ghosts and shadows, basically,” renjun answers simply. 

“didn’t you chant something in the cave?” chenle asks. “when you called in those wispy ghosts?” 

“spirits come from the underworld,” renjun explains. “i have to bind them to earth before i can call them here, so that’s what that is. the laws are really loose, though, so i can literally say anything as long as i’m calling them here. also, my ghosts aren’t always wispy. only if i make a ton of them. i can make them just like normal humans if i wanted to.” 

chenle hums with interest. 

“there’s not really much to it,” renjun says, and then he looks over to jeno, who is sitting next to him. 

“oh, well, i’m a child of apollo,” he says. “i can’t really predict the future, but i can find things.” he says, and jaemin nods, remembering when he found renjun. “i can kinda make or control light, and i can also heal minor injuries.” 

“you and jaemin must both have powers of hair colors too,” donghyuck jokes. “what with your white hair and his pink.” 

everyone in the room, sans jaemin, who just winces, gives donghyuck a confused look. 

“jaemin’s hair is brown,” jisung says, and chenle nods an agreement. “how do you get pink from that?” 

“but,” mark says, “isn’t his hair black?” 

jeno, with his brow furrowed, looks from them to jaemin, but it’s only renjun, who just stares at jaemin, that jaemin thinks may have understood. 

“my hair,” jaemin speaks up awkwardly, “isn’t really any of those colors.” 

everyone looks at him with confusion. 

“like,” jaemin says, pointing to his eyes. “what about my eyes? what color do you see -- and be specific.” 

“light brown,” jisung says, chenle and donghyuck both nodding. 

“dark brown,” says mark. 

jaemin points at mark. “they’re dark brown,” he says. “since you all already know i’m korean by my name, the one similarity between how you see me is that i would look fairly korean, right?” 

“are you saying,” renjun says, “that your appearance changes from person to person?” 

jaemin nods. “it’s a power that i’ve never told anyone about. i don’t have any control over it, either. i’m a child of aphrodite, and just like my mom, people tend to see me as an ideal of beauty. not completely, like my appearance isn’t your exact ideal, but it’ll be sort of close to it. and, like i said, since you all know i’m korean, you see me as that. if i were to tell someone that i’m, like, white, or african american, or latino, they would see me as those races instead.” 

“does your voice change too?” donghyuck asks. 

“uh,” jaemin says, “i’ve never tested that out?”

“what’s your real appearance?” jeno asks. 

jaemin smiles, just a little bit sadly. “i mean, you don’t really need to know,” he says. “no one else has ever been able to see it.” 

“no one?” chenle asks. 

“no one,” jaemin repeats. “like, my dad knows when i change my hair color? but he doesn’t see all my features. i think i look,” he pushes down a tightness in his chest, “similar to the way aphrodite did to him.” 

“well, you said that your race would look the way you tell someone it is, right?” donghyuck says. “so if you told us all what you looked like, could our views of you change?” 

jaemin shakes his head. “no one’s view changes from the very first one they see in me. like, it can take a little bit of time for a complete image of me to form, which no one notices or remembers, but once they see me one way, that’s how they see me forever. it doesn’t really bother me that much, though; i’ve gotten used to it.” 

“then,” mark says, “just to humor us, can you tell us what you look like?” 

“uh,” jaemin says, “i could try, i guess. honestly, i don’t really know how to describe myself, though.” 

“oh!” chenle exclaims. “what if you draw yourself?” 

“really?” jaemin asks, starting to feel sort of amused. he’s never had anyone be so interested in his appearance -- his real appearance -- before. not that he’s ever had anyone know about his secret. even if it’s a little bit uncomfortable, it’s not quite as bad as he would’ve thought, at least with these six. 

“yeah,” chenle says, nodding enthusiastically. 

“i’m not the greatest artist,” jaemin warns, but chenle and donghyuck have already gotten up to find some paper. jaemin directs them to where it is with a smile, and they bring him a blank sheet and a pencil. they even go and find jaemin’s pack of forty eight colored pencils (admittedly, he likes drawing a little bit -- and also just owning crafts sort of stuff). 

while jaemin draws, using a picture of himself on his phone as a reference, the others chat a bit, and he tries not to notice that jeno and renjun don’t participate in the conversation. that isn’t really weird for renjun, but jeno is studying jaemin’s face, and jaemin thinks maybe he’s wondering how different it is from jaemin’s actual appearance. 

eventually, he finishes and is satisfied with his drawing, and he puts his colored pencils down. 

chenle, donghyuck, mark, and jisung are the first ones to get a look, because they crowd around him. 

“i think you’re actually better looking than how i actually see you,” chenle says in awe, oohing at the drawing. jaemin laughs, feeling a little happy, but awkward. he’s never had anyone look at his real face before -- even just through a drawing. he doesn’t know entirely how it feels. 

“so,” donghyuck says, peering at the drawing, as chenle and jisung move aside so that jeno and renjun can see, “what color is your hair really?” 

“oh, i can’t really express it just with colored pencils.” jaemin says. “it’s kind of,” 

“like a peach,” jeno says, taking the words right from jaemin’s mouth, and he stares at jeno in surprise. “the same way i see it,” he adds softly, eyes caught on jaemin’s face. 

“so much for no one having ever seen your real appearance,” renjun mumbles, meeting jaemin’s still shocked gaze. “unless you just coincidentally drew yourself exactly the way i see you?” 

“both of you,” jaemin begins, the words stumbling as they fall out of his mouth. “you both…” 

“we see you,” renjun says softly, and both of them are remembering similar words. and jaemin, who never thought anyone else would even really see him, knows that he’s being seen by these two. not just his face, but his heart that has hidden its hurt, are revealed in a way that is both terrifying and gentle. 

jaemin is screwed, and he knows, because a child of aphrodite falls in love a way nobody else does, and because, apparently, their eyes know things that even their hearts do not. 


End file.
